More Than Forever
by support nickj
Summary: 15 year olds Nick and Riley have been best friends since they were 7, but when a new girl threatens to take over their friendship, and Nick's life in general, will he see how he really feels about Riley? READ! It's calling your name, you know it.
1. Stop And Stare

**A/N : These are called Fan FICTION for a reason, guys. Their personalities aren't always going to be the way they actually are. If you want Nick to be shy, or Joe to be goofy, just don't read it at all. But if you don't, you're missing out on a good story. Continue : )**

The moving truck had just pulled away a few hours before. After my parents begging for twenty minutes and me refusing for forty, I found myself walking next door with my two brothers to ask the new neighbors to dinner.

A very pretty blonde woman opened the door, a soft smile on her face and tons of boxes in her arms.

Kevin was the first to smile back, "Hi. I'm Kevin, and these are my brothers Nick and -"

"My name is Joe," He said, somehow managing to slip in front of me and offer her his hand. "But you can call me later."

The woman laughed and took Joe's hand in hers. "I'm Ms. Dougherty, and you can call me in twenty years."

"Ms?" He said, continuing even though she clearly meant that as a brush off, "As in, not committed and not doing anything later?" Kevin hit the back of Joe's head with his hand.

"We live next door," I continued, pointing to our house, "Our mom wanted us to invite you and your family over for dinner, if you're free."

"That would be wonderful," She said, "Let me just go tell my daughter. She'll be so excited to meet new people so soon."

"Daughter?" Joe said, smiling as she closed the door. "So there's someone else in this world that beautiful?"

I rolled my eyes, just in time for the door to be re-opened. The most intimidating girl I had ever seen stood there, hand on her hip.

"I don't know what I'm wearing to dinner tonight," She said, "So I don't have time to meet you." And with that, she closed the door.

We were only seven then.

In the years that followed, I was the poor unfortunate soul that had every class with Miss Thing. Our mothers worked together, and soon became best friends. I still remember that day at the park, two weeks after she moved in. She kicked the crap out of the boy who was trying to do the same to me, and then bought me a ring pop on the way home. She pinky swore not to tell my brothers, and she never did.

She's been my best friend ever since.

Now 15, I sat in my window, thinking about the first day we met. Almost as if on cue, she walked out her front door and made her way to mine.

"Hey, Skinny." My brother Joe said as she walked in. He always called her that, but I thought it was stupid. Not because she wasn't skinny, she probably only weighed 100 pounds and stood at a measly 5'1". But because that didn't fit her well. Not her personality, anyway. To me, she was huge.

"Where's Fro?" She asked, and I chuckled.

"Upstairs, waiting for you."

She thanked him as she ran up the stairs, and ten seconds later barged into my room.

"Hey bess fran!" She said, and smiled when she noticed me sitting on the windowsill. "Spying on me again?"

"You wish, Riles." I responded, "I was just thinking about that day at the park. You know, when you saved me from a life of eternal loser-dom."

"But Nicky," She said, pouting, "I didn't save you."

"What did you just say to me?" I asked, standing up and acting tough.

"Nothing," Riley said, backing up.

"You know what I have to do now, right?" I said, moving closer.

"No," She laughed, "Nick! I swear to God, Nick, if you come near me." I had her now. She was laughing too hard to run faster than me.

In a flash I was standing next to her, picking her up and swinging her around over my head. I always did that when she made fun of me. It was just a best friend thing. She was cracking up now, and her laughter was contagious. She hit the back of my knee with her fist, making me fall and her come toppling down on top of me.

"Don't mess," She said, standing up and regaining her composure.

As I laid down on my floor, I couldn't help but notice how she never got dressed up to come see me. She didn't bother straightening her naturally wavy, blonde hair, and she was wearing a simple navy tank-top and white jeans.

"You look like a sailor," I thought out loud.

She let her mouth fall open, but I knew she didn't really care.

"That's it." She said, turning to leave. "I'm taking you out of my top eight."

"You wouldn't!" I gasped, and she giggled.

"Seriously, though." Riley said, facing me once again. "I came over here for a reason."

"Oh, really? And what would that reason be?" Nick Jonas, the tease. I knew we weren't really attracted to each other, and it was a possibility we never would be. That's what I loved about our friendship. Nothing would ever change.

"We need to talk about our PARTY, you perv."

Oh, right. Riley was two days older than me, born on the 14th of September, and we'd been having our party together since we'd known each other. It was like a tradition.

"Don't worry about it," I said, "My momma's already got everything planned. We're gonna have it at the same place it was last year."

"The Ballroom!?" Riley squeaked. I smiled, knowing she would react that way. She had loved that place. She ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Honestly, if there was a best friend in the whole entire world competition, you would win it no doubt."

"I know, I know."

"Who are we inviting this year?" She asked, crossing her legs at the ankle.

"Does it matter? We're just gonna talk to each other the whole time anyway."

"True," She said. My parents had always told us to mingle, but even when we did that we were attached at the hip.

"Oh, and there's one more thing!" Riley said, before turning on her heels and leaving. "You're NOT wearing that to the release party. It starts at 8:00, don't forget!"

Good thing she said that, because I would have forgotten all about it. I really didn't know what I would do without her always having my back. She was always there when I needed her, and she always had the perfect thing to say. As a matter of fact, she **was** the perfect thing to say, if that made sense to anyone but me. I looked down, and wondered why I couldn't just wear the Twinkie pajama pants I had on. Sighing, I got up and walked over to my closet.

Thank God for best friends.

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**I'm really excited about this story, so hopefully you guys are too! I already know exactly where it's going, so updates will be really quick!**

**ALSO. Good news for you readers.**

**I need someone to play the girl who tries to tear Nick and Riley apart. I need one before the next chapter, so sign up RIGHT NOW. In a review, tell me**

**Your Name :**

**What You Look Like (Eyes, Hair, Height) :**

**Your Style :**

**Your Phone (They text a lot. If you don't have one pick a phone you like) :**

**Tell me what you think (:**


	2. Heels Over Head

"You almost ready?" Kevin asked, coming into my room. "Don't forget, **she's** going to be there, so you have to look your best."

He must have been crazy if he thought I could ever forget about her. She was this girl I had been into for over a year. She'd been a fan since the beginning of the whole "Jonas Brothers" epidemic, and she was so beautiful. Fan or not, she really understood me, and I had been trying to tell her how I felt for the longest time. No matter how hard I tried, it just never came out right. My thoughts always seemed to get mixed up somewhere between my head and my heart. Almost as if she knew I was thinking about her, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

**I'm already here. Where are you? **the text said. **- Taylor**

My heart fell down into my stomach, and I smiled at the thought of her long brown hair and big green eyes. I needed to see her, fast.

**On my way. **I texted back.

"I'm ready!" I called down the stairs, but my family was already in the car.

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"Woooooohoooo!" Joe hadn't stopped screaming since we left the house half an hour ago.

"Joseph Adam, stop that already." My mom shook her head, and my dad laughed.

"I'm telling you, it has something to do with that pixie stick craving you had when you were pregnant with him."

Joe's face dropped, "Don't you love me, mommy?"

"No." We all said in unison.

Joe smirked, and the next thing we knew he was breaking out in song. "Mommy always laughs when I act stupid, I am unaware that I'm a nuisance."

"Oh, your aware Joseph."

My sidekick vibrated again, and I read the new text message.

**I've never seen so many Nick J Is Off The Chain shirts in my life. - Taylor**

**What can I say, I'm kind of a big deal. **Yeah, that sounded witty.

"Not," Riley said, peering over my shoulder.

"Ever heard of privacy?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"You've been walking around my house in your boxers since you weighed eighty pounds."

"Oh," Kevin said, joining the conversation, "I didn't know he was there this morning."

He and Riley cracked up. Wow, that was so funny.

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We walked into the building, past the hundreds of shrieking girls. We all smiled and waved, and Riley stopped to talk to a few familiar faces in the crowd before running to catch up to us for the interview.

"Running in heels," She panted, sitting down next to me, "Should be included in the Olympic Games."

"You're telling me," Joe said, "And in a dress, too? That's sheer torture!"

"Not another word," I said, "Or we are not brothers."

The interviewer sat down across from us and shook everyone's hand, leading up to Riley who was just getting up to leave.

"You must be the Jonas sidekick!" he said excitedly, shaking her hand, "I must say, you look stunning."

I looked over, excited for her expression. She hated being called the sidekick, but the compliment seemed to put her mind at ease. I hadn't taken the time to notice, between her nagging and everything, but she really did look great. Red always had been her color. She smiled sweetly and hugged all of us goodbye before she went to mingle.

My phone vibrated again.

**Riley looks amazing tonight. She's lucky to always be so close to you. - Taylor**

I wasn't entirely sure what to say, so I showed the text to Joe, hoping to get some advice from the "ladies man."

Joe smiled, "Oh man, she's into it. Okay, alright. I've got this. Write back and say 'Well babe, I'd love to be close to you, too. Like thighs on a leather couch.'"

I raised an eyebrow, "It's almost disgusting that you're serious."

I responded, **You should talk to her. She's been looking forward to seeing you. Not nearly as much as me, but that's a tough competition.**

Joe stuck out his tongue and Kevin nudged me as the interviewer began to ask questions.

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We got to roam around for awhile after the interview, before the fans were let in for the show. I dialed Taylor's number and listened around for her ring tone.

"Hey curly que," She answered, "Turn around."

I did. Wow, she looked amazing. Her brown hair was curled, pulled back into a head band, and her little black dress, which my mom said every girl should have, fit her perfectly.

"Well, hello beautiful." I cooed, wrapping her into a hug. "How's it goin'?"

She smiled. "Are you going to tell me you hear it's wonderful in California next, Mister Sweet Talker?"

"Almost. You beat me to it, though. Having fun?"

"A blast. I talked to Riley for a few, she's so funny. She told me she had to remind you the party was tonight."

"Ahh, yeah." I said, silently vowing to give her a tackle for that later. "She's a crack up."

I got another text message. **Backstage. 3Riley**

"I gotta go," I hugged her again. Her hair smelled amazing. "I'll find you after the show."

"I'll hold you to that." She kissed my cheek then strolled away, and I jogged backstage, butterflies in full swing.

I really, really liked this girl.

Riley nudged me almost instantly after I was behind the curtain. "She looks **gooood**!"

I nodded and joined the circle for prayer.

"Campfire!" Everyone yelled.

"Come on, Riley." Kevin shouted, "Get in on this."

She stood up and planted the heel of her black pumps right onto his foot. He yelped in pain and said it was okay while Riley apologized repeatedly.

"See?" Joe said while running on stage, "I told you heels were killer!"

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Every time I walked on stage, it didn't matter if there was 10 people or 10, 000. I never understood how I got to be so lucky. I went from small town boy to big time star so fast it almost seemed surreal. You'd never catch me complaining.

"The first song we're going to do," I announced between swigs of water, "We wrote with our best friend, Riley. It's about having fun and never changing, no matter how crazy things get. It's called That's Just The Way We Roll. This one's for you, sidekick."

I saw her give me a glare from backstage, but it quickly turned into a smile as she danced around.

It was a good set. it wasn't our best or anything, but we had fun with it, and that's what mattered. I walked past an excited Riley to scoop Taylor up into a hug. As Kevin and Joe came over to talk to her, I went back to talk to Riley.

She gave me a big hug and ruffled my hair. "That was a great show, kid." My face dropped. Kid. Not only was it insulting to be called kid by my best friend, but Riley only used it when she was upset. I was very observant when it came to things like that.

"Kid? You break a nail or something? Find out your coke wasn't diet?"

She tried to paint a confused expression on her face. "I don't get it."

"You're a terrible actress," I bent my knees to catch her eyes as they looked at the ground. "You gonna tell me or no?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Maybe if there was something to tell you, you goon. Where is Taylor? And why are you standing here chit chatting with me when you only see her what, once a month? She looks awesome and she was so excited about seeing you. Go. Go right now, Nicholas. I'm done talking to you."

I tilted my head. Now she was rambling. Sign number two of something definitley being up, but I decided not to fight it. Not now at least. There were some battles you just shouldn't pick.

"You're right," I said, checking my watch. "It's already midnight. I'll meet you back at the car in an hour."

I caught up with Taylor and put my hand on her back, politely interjecting into what was probably a very interesting conversation with Joe about robots. He took the hint and went to the dance floor, as Taylor and I sat down to talk.

"Have you ever wanted to tell someone something for like, the longest time? And you just couldn't think of how to say it?" Taylor asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I have that problem often. I guess when it's the right time, it just happens."

Taylor looked up at me and nodded. Her eyes were so beautiful. **She** was so beautiful. Before I knew it my lips and hers were connected, and I couldn't have been happier.

"Guess the right time came sooner than we thought," She smiled and put her head on my shoulder.

I got another text message, this time from Joe.

**Yo Bro, we gotta go, ya know? Don't say no, even though, that girl is whoa. Hopefully no hoe. Love, Joe.**

I laughed, and wondered how he got to be so ridiculous.

"I gotta go." Taylor looked up again, slightly hurt. We hardly ever got to see each other, but I would be home for a couple more days before the next tour started. "I'll call you tomorrow," I continued. "We can all go swimming."

She smiled, "Sounds great."

She gave me another kiss goodbye, and I swear I had the Butterfly Pavilion in my stomach.

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I walked out through the back door, and stumbled upon Kevin saying "Riley, why haven't you said anything?"

"About what?" I asked, smile in full swing.

Everyone's eyes dodged straight to the ground. I could tell Riley had been crying.

"About..." Kevin started.

"About how, you know, emotional she gets when she hears the song we wrote together." Joe said. "The whole line about the whale in the pool with mom really gets to her."

I was in no mood to argue, so I just laughed and got into the car. I was on top of the world. I had an awesome family, a beautiful girl, and an incredible best friend. An incredibly sad best friend. What was the matter with her tonight?

My phone vibrated.

**I can't wait to see you. - Taylor.**

Whatever it was, it would have to wait.

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**Yay for new chapters!**

**So first, I just want to say that I'm so sorry if I didn't pick you. I had an image in my head already, and she was the only one who fit that. But anyway, I hope you guys liked this one: )**

**Review. Give me some suggestions or something.**

** 3**


	3. Keep Holding On

I woke up the next morning to the spring on my mattress going up and down. I squinted my eyes and rolled onto my back to see Riley's naturally beautiful face bouncing on the edge of the bed. "Morning sunshine!" She smiled. "Get up, it's almost ten!" Okay, ten was a little early to be getting up, but it wasn't exactly a bad thing to see her standing there.

I grunted and pulled the blankets back over my head in disapproval. "Two more hours."

A 120lb weight came crashing onto my stomach in the form of an conniving 15 year old girl.

"Nicholas Jerry, if you do not get up and eat the Pop Tart breakfast I made us in the next five minutes, I'll tell your Dad that it was really you and not Joe that put his underwear in the freezer."

I pulled the comforter down to my nose and narrowed my eyes. "You wouldn't."

"Oh," She said standing up and glancing at her watch. "I would. You have four and a half minutes."

I really didn't like her some days. Her mood seemed to have changed drastically from last night, though. I felt a little bit guilty thinking about it. I hadn't even tried to ask her what was wrong on the way home. I was too caught up in Taylor to care about my best friend since I was 7. If you asked me, I think that made me a horrible person. But if there's one thing I don't attempt to understand, it's the female mind.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and crying Riley from my thoughts as I headed downstairs to my brothers and Riley singing along to the Fairly Oddparents theme song. I joined in on "obtuse, rubber goose" and ruffled Frankie's hair as I grabbed a Pop Tart and sunk into the couch.

"Are you going to be ready in time?" Kevin asked, looking me up and down. "We're supposed to pick Taylor up on the way to the pool in twenty minutes."

And there I was, in a frenzy again. I hopped over the back of the couch, even though it was just as easy to go around, and grabbed Riley's wrist. I dragged her up the stairs and into my room. "I have no idea what to wear! I don't know what girls like! I'm not suave like Joe or smart like Kevin." So maybe I shouted, but what would you have done?

"I hate it when you do that, you know." She said, looking at me.

"Do what?" I didn't have to pretend to be confused. I really didn't know what she was talking about.

"Compare yourself to your brothers. You're just as good as them."

I forgot she had always had a problem with me talking down to myself. Not just me, though. It was anyone, really. Her dad talked her down to the point where it took 7 years a dose of Nick Jonas every day to get her back to where she used to be. It just bugged her.

"I'm sorry. I'm suave **and** smart!" I flexed my untouchable muscles.

Riley laughed, shrugging off the subject. She took a bathing suit out of my drawer. "I think these should work, Sir Freaks a lot."

I changed and came back down to the living room to just Riley, laughing at pink and green haired fairies like they were comical geniuses.

"Hey," I said. I stuck my hands in the side pockets of my shorts. "Talk to me. What was wrong last night?"

Her face fell, but she quickly recovered her smile. "Nothing. I was just really happy to be there. I was so proud of you. I'm always proud of you Nick, you know that."

She lies, she lies, she lies. It wasn't like her to keep something from me. She came to my house to lay on my bed last week because "they made her cramps not hurt as much", for God's sake. If she could tell me that, she could tell me anything. I was picking this battle.

"And if I hadn't spent the last seven years of my life with you, I might believe that." I sat down next to her. "So what was up?"

She sighed heavily, and she knew she'd lost this one. She bit her lip, something she always did when she was trying to think of how to say the million things that were running through her head. I know, because I do it too.

"Max was there." She muttered.

My heart sank. Max was Riley's ex boyfriend. Her ex **serious** boyfriend. They were together for close to two years. The last time we left for tour, everything was great. When we came home, Riley didn't even want to hear his name and spent weeks in tears. She insisted it was just an argument every time I asked, but I knew that was a lie.

He also happened to be the boy that she beat up for me eight years ago.

"I'm sorry." I really didn't know what to say.

My phone vibrated. **You're late! Get your cute butt over here. -Taylor.**

I quickly responded; **Sorry. Riley's freaking out. I think she found out her lip gloss was tested on puppies or something. We'll be there soon.**

"Nick.." Her voice was shaking. I looked up to find her brown eyes spilling out tears. I sighed and put my arms on her back, pulling her into my chest. "I'm trying so hard to be strong." She finished.

I rested my chin on her head. "You don't have to be. You've got me to be strong for you."

She brought her knees to her chest and leaned into me. Silent tears turned into full blown sobs, and at that point, I didn't know what to do. I had seen Riley cry twice our entire friendship. Once when she talked about her Dad, and once the first time we left for a tour. It was still nothing like this.

She sat up, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. She silently pushed up the left side of her shorts to show me the eight different one inch scars scattered across her thigh. "Remember these?" She asked weakly.

"Yeah." I smiled softly at the story I'd heard so many times. "Fourth of July, last summer when we were on tour. You tripped over the fence at the park when you were joking around with Max and landed on glass, right?"

She shook her head. "Pocket knife."

My smiled faded, and I was confused. She turned her left arm to show me the circular scar. "What about this one?" She asked again.

"You, you ran into a trailer playing hide and go seek. There was something sticking out of the side and.."

"No." She said. "That's a cigarette burn."

She pointed up to the thin scar next to her left eye.

My voice was considerably softer than it was when the conversation had started. "Your first high school varsity soccer game. You dove into the goal post."

She interlocked her hands with mine. "That's from a class ring."

My phone vibrated again. I ignored it.

My mind was racing a million miles a minute, but I still wasn't understanding. Riley wiped her eyes again and took a deep breath.

"Nick, the whole time you were away on tour last summer..." She looked at the ground. "Max abused me."

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**Okay, so I'm honestly doing a couple of filler chapters to get to where I need to be. Just hang on for a little while, and it will be amazing : )**

**Totally worth your time.**

**Oh, and has anyone read the book The Lovely Bones? Well, it's probably the best book ever, and I found out today they're making a movie out of it! And AJ Michalka is going to be in it.**

**REVIEW !!**


	4. A Call I'll Never Get

My heart beat was going a million miles a minute, and I can't even begin to explain the emotion that was stirring inside of me. I had so many questions. I shifted in my seat and tried to take in all in without over reacting. I know that it was a huge, **more** than huge deal, but I didn't want to upset her more than she already was. I took a breath, and kept my cool, even though the only thing going through my head is how much agony I would love to put him in.

"Why didn't you ever say anything, Riley?"

She wiped her eyes for a final time and sunk back into my chest. "I was scared to. I didn't want you to worry while you were on tour, and by the time you got home, it was all done and over with. I thought you'd be mad that I stuck around for so long."

I rubbed her back. That had calmed her down for as long as I had known her. "Ri, I could never be mad at you for that." My blood was still pumping at an insane speed, and my adrenaline was through the roof. "Nothing you could have ever done should have made him do that. Nothing."

She sniffled and sat up, smiling weakly. "Sorry I was such a mess about it."

There was so much agony behind her brown eyes. I felt so terrible for never seeing it. That was the thing about Riley though, she could be torn to shreds about something, and she would be more concerned about your happiness than something that was gnawing at her heart.

"Do Kevin and Joe know?"

She nodded. "Joe tickled me until I couldn't breathe and I agreed to telling them."

We both chuckled. I was sort of angry at them for not telling me. Riley read my mind. She always did that sort of thing.

"Don't be mad at them. I told them I wanted to be the one to tell you. I have never kept anything from you. Ever. And I'm sorry I started now."

My phone vibrated again. I now had three unread text messages. The first was from Kevin. **We're waiting outside. Don't rush.**

They must have gone out the front door without me even realizing it in the mix of everything.

The next two were from Taylor.

**Nick J, hurry your butt up! The sun is gonna be down by the time we get there at this rate! ;) - Taylor.**

I didn't respond and continued to the next one.

**Joe called and explained the Riley emergency. She's that upset about razor burn? Tell her to put some lotion on it. And not to dry shave! - Taylor.**

I shook my head in disbelief. I had no idea where Joe came up with this stuff. I turned back to Riley and continued the conversation.

"I'm not mad. I'm not even mad about the fact that you didn't tell me because you thought I'd be mad."

She smiled.

"It's just, it's in the past. Way in the past. I don't want it to effect me now. I don't want to think about it. And I really don't want to talk about it. You just needed to know."

I could never understand how she was so strong about everything. No matter what you threw at her, that glass was always half full. Always. Behind her funky fashionista attitude and sarcastic remarks was a girl with a selfless heart of gold.

I extended my right pinky to her and repeated the words that were first said when I had blood gushing from my nose at the park seven years earlier, and had been repeated almost daily since.

"Always?"

She locked her right pinky with mine. "And forever."

I grabbed her knees and put her over my shoulder. "Now, someone has made us very late. And Joe had to make up one of his stories to explain it."

"Oh God." Riley moaned, nonchalantly giving me the wedgie of a life time. "What almost killed me this time?"

"Razor burn."

That sent her into hysterics as I carefully flung her into the backseat of the convertible, where as promised, my brothers were waiting. Kevin raised his eyebrow at me as if it ask how it went.

Frankie hadn't quite got the brotherly 'talk without saying a word' thing down yet as he sputtered, "Did you make Riley stop crying? You made sure she wasn't sad anymore, right Nick?"

I nodded and smiled as Riley gripped her stomach and rolled from side to side occasionally muttering an "I can't breathe!"

She had finally contained herself when we pulled up in front of Taylor's house. I dialed her number, and listened to her new ring back tone. Transylvania by McFly. Amazing, I know.

"Bout time!", she answered jokingly. "I'll be right out."

She ran out to the car with her brown hair in a messy side ponytail. Her jean shorts were rolled over and the top of her brown bikini bottom was showing. Normally, I'd think it was tacky, but she looked beautiful. Even her oversized vintage sunglasses couldn't hide the sparkle she always seemed to have in her eyes.

I offered my hand, like I was taught a gentleman should as she hopped into the car.  
"Hey, gorgeous." She smiled at me. "Kevin, Joe, Frankie. You boys look handsome."

"Why thank you." Joe said, whipping his head around to look at her, lowering his sunglasses. "I put an extra spoon of sexy in my corn flakes this morning."

Kevin rolled his eyes and made a turn. "You had six Pop Tarts for breakfast, Rico Suave."

Taylor laughed, a genuine laugh, which I guess was good. Someone had to think they were funny. She then leaned forward to look across me and at Riley. She looked her up and down, smiled brightly and grabbed her hand. "You look stunning too, Riley. How's that razor burn?"

Riley laughed the next fifteen minutes to the pool, and the only tears she cried were to verbally punish herself for not using her Skintimate shaving gel in between laughing fits.

It was going to be an amazing day.

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Like I knew it would be, the day was awesome. It was filled with cannonball tournaments, Marco Polo and intense games of chicken, where Joe insisted he go against Riley, who had him gasping for breath underwater within the first ten seconds.

It was 8:00 and the sun was just setting. The sky was a mixture of orange, red and yellow, and looking at it, I couldn't understand how people could say there was no God. I loved September. It wasn't too hot or cold. Not only because of the weather though, but because we got a chance to spend time with people we'd missed while we were away, and everyone always seemed to be happy.

It also meant my birthday was close.

We got to the front of Taylor's house once again, and I jumped out of the car to open the door. She smiled and shook her head. "Chivalry is not dead, I see."

I laughed. "Definitely not. I'll do one better. Let me walk you to your door." I let my mind wander as our interlocked hands swung between us on the way up to the door. I wondered what her parents did for a living, for one. I'm convinced an entire football team could live in her house quite comfortably, with its several different bay windows and a killer wrap around porch.

"So, here was are" she spoke, shaking me from my thoughts. "I was thinking, wanna hang out tomorrow? Just us?"

"Actually," I rubbed the back of my neck "I think I'm going to spend tomorrow with Riley." I'd been thinking all day, and after what Riley had told me earlier, I just wanted to spend time with her. Just to hang out, in case she wanted to talk about it.

But Taylor's face fell, and I was thinking fast. "I mean, just because we have to watch Frankie. Joe and Kevin are going out and she's the only one who he'll listen to some-"

She cut me off with a quick kiss and unlocked her door "It's okay."

I nodded and she slipped into her house. "I'll call you later, I promise."

We pulled onto our cul-de-sac, and by that time, Kevin and I were the only ones awake. He turned around in his seat. "I'll carry Joe, and if you can get Riley, I'll come back out for Frankie."

I laughed and nodded. Even at 18 years old, everyone knew Joe would have a fit if they woke him up, so instead Kevin walked around to the passenger side of the car as I undid Joe's seatbelt. With a deep breath and a grunt, Kevin had his baby brother in his arms and was struggling to get him to the front door.

I undid Riley's seat belt, put one arm around her neck and the other underneath her knees and carried her through the front door that Kevin was holding open. Joe laid sprawled across the wood floor entrance and I look at Kevin questionably.

"I dropped him." He said simply before leaving to grab Frankie. "But, he didn't wake up, so hopefully he isn't unconscious."

I shook my head and carried Riley upstairs to my room. She opened her eyes as soon as I set her on the bed.

I sighed. "Would've been nice if you woke up about two minutes ago. Frankie is a lot easier to carry."

She propped herself on her elbows. "I was awake the whole time. Just didn't feel like walking."

I made a disgusted face and threw a pillow at her. "You sicken me."

She pouted and got off the bed. "I'm going home. I'm tired, and your verbal abuse is tearing me apart."

I know she didn't mean it, but the word 'abuse' from her lips instantly put a huge weight on my heart.

She gave me a hug. "Don't take it like that, Fro." I listened to her bounce down the stairs, say her goodbyes and I love you's, and close the door. I looked out my window as she left the house and made sure she got into hers okay, just out of habit. I grabbed my guitar from next to my bed and ran down the stairs, where Joe was now sitting on the couch, icing his head and cursing at Kevin.

"You didn't have you drop me, you di-"

I interrupted, holding up my guitar. "Let's write."

Kevin shut off the TV while I grabbed a notebook and some pens. Joe took the pillows from the couches and we all sat down, forming a triangle.

I shook my hair from in front of my face and made eye contact with each of my brothers. "I want it to be about Riley. About everything she's going through, or has gone through."

Kevin nodded and started tapping his pen to a beat in his head. "Maybe about how…everyone sees her, but nobody knows her."

Joe bit his nails for a second. "She screams in her pillow.."

"For a better tomorrow." I finished.

Over the next half hour, we had an entire song done for Riley. Almost. We couldn't think of a word to describe her. Nothing had a powerful simplicity to it like we were looking for.

"What about an underdog?" Frankie piped up from the couch, mouthful of an extreme blow pop that had managed to turn most of his face blue. "That's what the people at school always call kids who get picked la-"

"No." We all said together.

"Not what we're looking for, kiddo." Kevin stated, putting Frankie onto his lap. "Thanks though." Frankie shrugged. "You'll be begging for my ideas when I'm making millions."

I grabbed the guitar from Kevin, and started to play. "She's an underdog, lives next door to me. She's always heard, you won't amount to anything."

The room got quiet. It sounded good, and we knew it. "Frank the tank!" Joe shouted, putting him on his shoulders by his armpits and running around the living room. "He shoots, he scorrrress!!"

Kevin and I smiled and high fived. "Think she'll like it?" I asked.

"Unless you present it with a pair of vans...probably not. She'll like it for sure, bro."

I went back upstairs to my room and called Riley's phone. Her window swung open and she whispered loudly, "Quit wasting my minutes!" as Can I Get Get Get played from her phone speakers.

"Sorry." I sat on my windowsill. "Come over tomorrow when you wake up. We just wrote a song I want you to hear."

"So you want me to hang out because you think I'm an emotionally devasted wreck, right?"

"No." I lied. "Is it a crime to want to spend some time with my best friend?"

"Mmmhmm, I'll come over, but I'm fine Nick. Really." She closed her window.

I threw myself across my bed on my stomach and played Guitar Hero to pass the time. I couldn't wait to hear from Taylor. The last time I looked at the clock was 4:33 AM.

She never called.

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**REVIEW. The next few chapters are the good parts : )**

**Oh, and I'm well aware Underdog was written before TJTWWR, but it's Fan Fiction, so I can do whatever I want. Haha.**


	5. To Plan An Amazing Day

At 8:15 in the morning, my curtains were torn open and my radio was turned on way louder than it needed to be to get the point across. I didn't even need to open my eyes.

"RILEY!" I shouted over Dare You To Move. "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO-"  
She shut the music off mid scream.  
"Loud?" I finished.  
"Well, you don't have to yell about it." She spoke facetiously.

I pulled the comforter down to my stomach and checked the sidekick that was still in my hand. No missed calls, no new text messages. I sighed.

"Never called?" Riley asked, sitting at the foot of the bed. I looked up at her. Her usually straightened blonde hair was left curly today, pulled back into a ponytail with a tie dye bandana around her head. Her bright yellow tank top and fire truck red Soffee shorts told me that she once again didn't think it was necessary to get dressed up for me. I was cool with that.

I shook my head. "She promised she would, but, she never did."

"She probably just passed out, everyone was tired yesterday. It's too early for her to be up yet, anyways." She was now walking around my room, picking dirty clothes up off the floor and putting them into my hamper. "So where's the song you were telling me about?"

I grabbed the paper with the chicken scratched lyrics and tabs on it and stuck it under my pillow. "I was thinking that it could be your birthday present."

"Why?" She asked, sliding under the blue comforter. "Move over, you're hogging the bed." I shifted a few inches. She rolled over on her side to look at me while I put my arms behind my head and looked at the ceiling. "Is it about me or something?"

I nodded.

"Is it nice?"

I shook my head. "It's about how you wake me up at insane hours of the morning just to come take over my room, and my bed." She rolled her eyes. "It's about how bad you always smell too."

"Hey!" She pegged me in the face with a Yankees pillow. "I don't smell. This hang out day was your idea anyways. I don't like seeing your face anymore than anyone else does!"

I shifted my eyes from her over the to corner that was consumed with boxes filled with letters, pictures and gifts from fans to prove my point.

"You're not even a boy to me though, let alone some sexy hunk. You're just Nicholas. Note the fact that not a single girl who is in love with those curly locks have seen you when they looked more like a brillo pad than the hair of a God. They never had to buy you a push pop after they saved your butt from a fight. They never saw how awful some of your lyrics were before your Dad went over them. They never saw you willingly model women's underwe-"

"You proved your point at brillo pad." I muttered, running my fingers through my hair and climbing out of bed.

Riley smirked in victory. "What are we doing today, anyways?"

I grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a hoodie from my closet and closed the bathroom door to change. "I thought we could just hang out. Eat, talk, play video games."

"Awesome." She was stripping the bed when I came out of the bathroom. "When's the last time you washed your sheets?" She asked, holding my bed linens at arms length.

"Dunno." I shrugged. "When I got home from the tour last year?"

She took the sheets from the bed and began carrying them down stairs in a big ball. "Gross. Where is everyone else, anyways? I walked in when your Mom was leaving, and she said you were the only one home."

I turned on Guitar Hero while Riley shoved my sheets into the washer. "I think they went birthday shopping for us."

She crossed her legs at the ankle and sat down, leaning back on her hands, wiggling her hot pink painted toenails in my face. "Hopefully the gifts are better than last year. Kevin got me an iTunes gift card that he had already used, and Joe and Frankie made me a card that said 'Happy 14th birthday'."

"So? What's wrong with a homemade card?"

"Nothing." Riley shrugged, picking up the guitar. "Except I was turning FIFTEEN."

"This year has to be better." I said. "You're parents are so chill, and there's a new law in California. You get a car."

Riley's fingers moved like a madman up and down the guitar, even though I had it set on expert. "The only reason you're excited about that is because that way I can take you everywhere you want to go, and your Mom won't have to drop you and your girlfriend off."

She beat me ten consecutive times, and I had quit. We were now both slouching on the couch with a huge glass of milk and a nearly empty box of oreos, that we had just opened twenty minutes before, between us.

"Know what I think is cool?" I managed to make audible through a mouth stuffed with cookie.

"Hmm?"

I swallowed and ran my tongue across my teeth. I looked at her and smiled as wide as I could, closing my eyes.

"Nu uh." She said after a big gulp of milk. "You have some on these two?" She pointed at her front two teeth. I ran my tongue across them again and she nodded. "So, what's cool?"

"Knowing that we'll never change."

She turned her body so she was cross legged and facing me, leaning back on an oversized pillow. She twisted the last oreo apart and handed me the half with the most filling. "What do you mean?"

I ran my finger across the stuffing before eating it. "I mean, I could be gone to every place on earth for years without talking to you. And when I came back, it'd be like nothing ever changed."

Riley missed the point completely, because now she was pouting. "You'd really go years without talking to me?"

"NO!", I cried, frustrated. "Riley, I tell you good morning and good night every single day with a dozen 'i love you's' in between even when you're right next door. I was just saying." I sighed. "You didn't start treating me any differently when I started getting recognized. You didn't put me on a pedestal because I was on magazine covers -"

"I did buy them though." She interrupted, pointing her index finger at me.

I smiled. "I know we're always joking and picking on each other, but I'm always gonna be here. You were my best friend when I was a nobody."

She shook her head. "Nicholas, you were never a nobody." She stuck out her pinky. "Always?"

I locked mine with hers and pulled her into a hug right as my phone vibrated. "And forever."

She wiggled away from the sentimental moment, grabbed my phone before I could and began to read out loud:  
"Sorry honey, smiley face." She drew a face in the air with her finger. "I was wiped out. What do you say to having an US day tomorrow? dash Taylor." She drew the dash in the air as well, along with raising her eyebrows and elbowing me in the stomach when she read 'us day'.

Knowing I was blushing, I snatched my phone from her hands and pushed her off the couch. "Thank you, but I'm a big boy now. I can handle this."

I responded quickly; **That sounds awesome. I've actually got an amazing day planned. **And with that, I pulled Riley up from the ground and back on to the couch.

"Help me plan an amazing day."

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**I promised an update, and this is my favorite story so I chose this one. Tomorrow I'll update Hanging On To Max and A Little Bit Longer. Maybe POS, too. It's the weekend, so you never know : )**

**Who's going to see the HM 3D thing? I would if I was positive JB were going to be in it, since I don't like her at all.**


	6. Goodbye To You

The alarm on my phone went off at 11 the next morning, but I was already awake with half of my closet thrown across my room. I had bitten my nails down about as far as I could, and I don't even bite my nails. I was a nervous wreck, to say the very least.

There were two knocks at my door before it swung open and Joe and Kevin walked in, Joe holding flowers. Riley and I had ran my, which was mostly her, plan by them and they both offered to help with the day. The had gotten up early to run to some stores for me while I attempted to get ready.

Kevin shook his head and started holding shirts up to my chest before repeatedly making a disgusted expression and saying, "Naww." as he threw shirts over his shoulder like he was a fashion icon.

"Well, my golly Nick!" Joe joked and put an arm around my shoulder. "You just look so swell today!"

"Shut up." I muttered, pushing his arm off of me. "You're supposed to be helping."

He stepped back looking insulted. "I got you a dozen roses, half yellow and half red. Yellow means friendship and red means love, signifying that our love and our friendship are one in the same, and you treat me like THIS!"

I looked at him, then to the roses, slightly impressed. "Is that really why you bought them?"

Joe nodded and opened his mouth to speak as Riley slipped in the door and cut him off.

"No." She started, shaking her fingers through her still wet hair from her morning shower. "They were the first, and conveniently, the cheapest ones he saw within the first three steps of the store."

Joe stuck out his tongue. "Do you always have to bite my moment?"

Riley rolled her eyes and pulled a small box out of her hoodie pocket. "I figured if the incredibly suave and unique rose line didn't work.." She looked over at Joe who mouthed a 'thank you!', while throwing up his hands. "You could give her this."

She handed the box to me and I opened it. It was a silver heart necklace that had 'Nick J' carved into it, the i dotted with a diamond. It was gorgeous, and definitely nothing I would've picked out on my own.

"How did you get this, Ri?" Kevin asked, turning it over in his hand.

"My aunt works down at the jewelry store on 140th. She gave it to me for an awesome price."

"I'll pay you back." I stated. "This is amazing."

Riley shook her head. "I don't want your money. I just hope she likes it. I figured you could give it to her at dinner tonight."

That was the icing on the cake of Riley's plan. Later on, we were all going to go to dinner together. It would be Taylor's first casual, yet formal event with us. She had gone to the album release and a few of the prom theme shows, but this was different. There were no guitars, drums, microphones or screaming crowds. Like I said, casual formal.

I set the necklace on my dresser and smiled. I glanced at my phone. It was already 11:45, and I was supposed to meet Taylor down at Starbucks at 12.

"Holy shi-"

"Don't freak." Kevin said, shaking his keys. "I'll drop you off." I quickly changed into a yellow and blue striped shirt, jeans and vans while simultaneously brushing my teeth. I gave Joe and Riley quick I love you's, before Kevin started the car. I always made sure to say 'I love you', to the people I did love, even when I was mad and it was hard. It was a habit Riley had got me into years earlier.

I waited at Starbucks for a few minutes, shifting every couple of seconds until I had a pair of soft hands over my eyes and a voice in my ears. "Guess who?"

"Hmmm." I thought for a second. "The girl of my dreams?"

She uncovered my eyes and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, I was right." I smiled and picked up the roses from beside me. "These are for you."

She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head as her eyes got wide. "These are so beautiful! Thank you so much."

"They're half red and half yellow", I started "Because yellow means friendship and red means love. So, it sort of shows that our friendship, and what one day might be our love are equally important to me."

I could not believe I had just said that and expected it to sound any less lame than it did when I had heard it an hour earlier.

She giggled though, luckily. "Joe came up with that one, didn't he?"

I put my teeth together an inhaled softly as I shook my head. "Yeah, that obvious, huh?"

"More like that goofy!" She laughed. Her smile was incredible. She looked amazing, and it didn't look like she had put hardly any effort into it. She had on yellow flip flops with white Capri's and a yellow tank top. Her hair was down and it didn't seem like she had a trace of make up on her face. I liked simple beauty. I never understood the pounds of make up and the hours on hair, because at the end of the day, that's not what you are. That's not what you come down to.

We ordered our Starbucks and walked around the corner to the boardwalk. She took a sip of her Passion Iced Tea Lemonade and slid her sunglasses back down over her eyes. "So, what's the plan for today?"

I casually grabbed her free hand and began swinging it slowly between us. "Well, I was thinking we could just go hang out on the beach for awhile, and then you could accompany me to dinner tonight, at around 6. Along with my older brothers and Riley."

"She goes with you just about everywhere, doesn't she?" She sounded slightly annoyed but the worry free look on her face reassured me. Every girl I had ever crushed on, liked, dated casually or dated seriously had a problem with Riley. Not a personal one, though. Riley was the easiest person in the world to get along with, but no one could ever seem to handle the fact that my right hand man, was actually a very pretty girl.

I nodded. I had always vowed to be open and honest about Riley and I's friendship with the girls I liked as an attempt to ease their minds. I sat down in the sand and buried my feet in it. "It's almost a comfort thing." I looked up to see Taylor giving me her undivided attention. She wasn't gawking at me or anything, but you could tell she was listening and not just hearing what I was saying. "She's always been there. Even when Joe and Kevin started straightening their hair, and wearing tight pants, they came back to a friend who didn't make one comment about any of it, because she knew they were happy. She's just like.." I tried to think of how to describe it.

"A little piece of consistency in an insanely inconsistent world?" Taylor asked, letting sand run through her fingers.

"That's...actually exactly it."

She nodded. "It's got to be hard with how busy you are..with WHO you are, to ever find someone who really cares about you for you, not the boy on Disney."

"Well, what do you like about me? I mean, you were a fan."

"I AM a fan." She smiled. "You make incredible music, that I can relate to and for me to deny the fact that I dance around to your voice coming from my ipod would be a lie." She moved close to me and put her head on my shoulder. "But, I've gotten the chance to get to know an entirely different side than what I read in articles or hear at shows. I got to experience toe sensitivity and the romance. The humor and the sincerity. Nick J from the Jonas Brothers is awesome..." She sat up and looked my dead in the eyes. "Just Nick Jonas is amazing, though."

She looked down at her phone before smiling at me. "It's already 3, and I've got to take some to go get ready before our big outing. I'll be to your house by 5:30." She stood up and wiped off her Capri's before turning around and walking away. I watched her until she was out of side before flopping onto my back and brushing off my shoulders and smirking to myself.

"Nick J, you are the man."

-----------------------------------------

It was 5:35, and Kevin, Joe, Riley and I were all in the living room. Joe was flipping through the radio stations trying to find one that wasn't on commercial. We were all pretty dressed up, black suits with purple, white and light blue ties, and Riley in a white and black polka dotted tube top dress. It didn't stop us from jumping around to Lifehouse like we were ten, though.

My mom shook her head as she walked through us. "You all look amazing", she said, straightening Kevin's tie and shifting Riley's dress. "But I could swear you all were half crazy."

"Only half?" Joe asked, jumping up and down like a human pogo stick. "I'm straight insane, momma. I'M DJ DANGAAA!"

I stopped jumping as the doorbell rang, and nervously walked to answer it as someone turned up the volume from the living room and the lyrics came pumping at me, like I was writing them in my own head as the scene was unfolding.

_Looking at you, holding my breath..  
For once in my life I'm scared to death.  
I'm taking a chance, letting you inside._

I opened the door slowly, and when I did, I didn't even know how to react. I know I'm talking about how pretty she is every time I get the chance to see her, but it was on a whole new level. She wasn't just pretty, or the beautiful cute she usually is. She was straight sophisticated, classic...perfection. Her hair was half up, the bottomed spiraled in a way I could never comprehend. Her dark green dress brought out her eyes that had a little bit of glitter on them like I had never seen. Not just on her, but on any girl.

The song kept playing, and definitely kept describing what I had forgotten how to say as I stood there with my hand on the door, and what I'm sure was a flattering look on my face.

_I'm feeling alive all over again  
As deep as the sky under my skin  
Like being in love, she said, for the first time.  
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right  
where I belong with you tonight  
Like being in love to feel for the first time._

I managed to pick my jaw up off the floor and swallow loudly. My voice came out a lot softer than I had expected. "You…look fantastic."

She smiled and her lip gloss shimmered. "You look stunning yourself, hon."

As if on cue, the amazing tripod came running for the door like a herd of angry cattle, completely butchering any romance that was in the moment at all. Kevin grabbed his suit jacket from the wall while Joe skipped out the door singing "We're late, we're late, for a very important date. No time for your games of kissy face, we're late, we're late, we're late!"

Riley grabbed me by the collar of my shirt on the run while shouting a "Dang girl, you look GOOD!" to Taylor on the way out the door.

Dinner went really well. We laughed the whole time, and Taylor was really clicking with everyone. She had some great stories to tell, kept up great in all of our conversations and even gave Joe a run for his money in wit. Taylor didn't even seem phased that Riley had sat on the opposite side of me, and didn't roll her eyes once when I turned to my best friend to have several one on one side conversations. Riley only tripped in her heels once, Kevin only spilled his water twice, and Joe only attempted to get our waitress' number...at least a dozen.

He threw a sugar packet down on the counter on his way out the door. "Excuse me miss," He started, pointing down at it like she was oblivious to the fact that he had just tossed it in front of her. "But, I believe you dropped your name tag."

After that line failed too, he pouted his way out of the restaurant, complaining to Kevin. "I don't get it, dude. My hair looks amazing today."

"That's because I did it, Joe." He slapped his hand on Joe's shoulder. "It's okay, you'll get her next time."

My phone vibrated, and I excused my hand from Taylor's as I looked down to see a message from Riley. I looked up at her and gave her a confused expression. She mouthed 'Just read it.', so I did. If there was one thing Riley and I had mastered over the years, it was reading lips.

**Where's the necklace, Casanova? Love, Riley**

Probably the hugest part of the entire night, and I had totally spaced it out. I responded **Keep Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum busy in the car for a few?**

She read the text and stuck her phone into her purse before sliding in between them and locking her arms with theirs. I heard her say something about going for a moonlit stroll with her best friends before turning the corner out of sight. I thought they had pulled it off, until Joe came running back around the wall to give me an over exaggerated thumbs up and a smile before Riley stomped up to him and pulled him away by his ear.

The restaurant we ate at was called Charlie's by the Sea, and it doesn't take rocket science to figure out why. You walked out the doors and onto the board walk, and the sun had just gone down. Taylor shivered at the ocean breeze and I took off my jacket and draped it over her shoulders without a second thought.

She smiled thankfully and gazed out into the ocean, leaning up against the railing. "I think California is wonderful, but, New Jersey is just…beautiful." She sighed. "I'm really going to miss you when you're gone."

I turned her chin with my index finger. "**You** are beautiful, Taylor Moore." I opened the box with my free hand in the space between our bodies. I took a step back and lifted it to eye level. "And that's why I want you to have this." She clapped a hand to her mouth as I watched her eyes roll over the name that was engraved on the heart. "I might not be able to handle a girlfriend right now, but I want you to know that where ever in the world I am, you have my heart." I smiled. "And when I know I can give you everything you deserve, I hope you'll take me."

Taylor's hand was still cemented to her mouth as I walked around her to latch the necklace. When I had, she spun around and wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder. "If you mean it, I'll wait as long as you need me to."

I grabbed her hand and began walking. "Trust me, I mean it." She held my hand tightly the whole way home.

After dropping Taylor off, we were back on the familiar cul-de-sac, and I don't think I had stopped to take more than two breaths while I explained every detail that happened while no one was around. They all congratulated me, and Riley repeatedly patted herself on the back for picking out such an incredible gift. Kevin killed the engine and him and Joe both gave Riley a kiss on the cheek before wandering into the house. It was my unspoken duty to always make sure Riley got home safe, and I opted to walk her tonight.

"Can we plan our party tomorrow?" She asked, fishing for her keys under her porch light. "It's Sunday. You leave Saturday night."

"So, we'll have it Friday."  
"Good.", she spoke, finally rattling her keys in her hands. "I already wrote out the invitations too, and I made sure to say that we weren't sharing presents. I'll come over tomorrow at noon and you can help me put stamps on them."

I nodded and gave her a hug. The night had been so amazing, I wasn't even going to protest at least an hour of stamp licking. "I love you, Ri."

"Love you, too." She closed the door behind her and I started across her yard into mine.

I kicked off my shoes once I was in my room and sat down on my bed, almost in awe. I was totally and completely convinced that nothing could wipe the stupid grin I was wearing off my face.

My phone vibrated.

**I was thinking, while I was watching you and Riley through dinner. Nick…you're a big boy now, and it's time you start doing things without her. You're at the point in your life where the girl you're serious about comes before the girl next door. Your life is cluttered, I think you and I can agree that there isn't room for the both of us. When you decide, let me know. -Taylor**

Choose between her and Riley? Was she serious? I looked out my window, into the one next to mine where Riley sat with a bunch of paper, markers and glue sticks concentrating like she was saving the world. She always had her whole heart behind everything.

I responded anyways. **You're right. **I took a deep breath before I continued, hardly believing what I was typing out. **It's time to move on from the childhood friend.**

I've never slept worse in my entire life

----------------------------------------

**Okay : )**

**Now the fun begins.**


	7. People Change

I had given up on sleep at 3:45 in the morning after waking up every ten minutes and decided to go watch music videos. At around 4:30, my mom came stumbling tiredly into the living room, squinting into the light. "Nicholas?" She asked hoarsely, putting her hand on the side of my face. "Are you feeling alright?" I forced myself to nod and take advantage of the situation.

"Yeah. I just got off the phone with Mandy." I lied.

My mom raised an eyebrow and looked and her watch. "What on God's green earth was Mandy doing calling you at four in the morning?"

I cleared my throat and began to explain the situation. "Well, she's dating this new guy, T-..Thomas. She really likes him a lot Mom. I mean, she's been telling me about him for a while now, and he sounds like a really great guy. He treats her well and everything, I mean."

She nodded. "So, he was so amazing she had to call and explain it at all hours of the morning?"

I laughed. "Sort of. Thomas is really jealous of...Joe. Cause Mandy and him are so close, you know?"

She nodded again.

"Well, Thomas asked her to pick between him and Joe, and she kind of chose Thomas."

Her eyes got wide, and she sat down next to me. "Why?"

I shrugged, like I was completely unaware of why Mandy was 'acting' the way she was. "I guess she just feels like her and Joe are getting older, and it's time to go their own ways, you know?"

"No." She said, shaking her head. "I don't. Someone who truly cares for Mandy would never ask her to do that." She thought for a second. "Nicholas, that's like a girl you like asking you whether her or Riley were more important to you."

When she worded it that way, it seemed like such a stupid question. Of course Riley was more important.

I sighed. "Like, Taylor asking me to choose?"

"Just like that. Mandy is a smart girl, Nicholas. Don't lose sleep over this. She will follow her heart." And with that, she kissed my forehead and retreated back into her room.

_Follow my heart. _I thought. That's all I had to do. I scribbled a note onto a post it and snuck out the front door to stick it to Riley's mailbox.

I created a new text message that said **Meet me for lunch at noon, Papa Frank's**. and sent it to Taylor.

I woke up the next morning and peeked out my blinds just as Riley was walking to her mailbox. She tore the note off of it and concentrated on the barely legible scrawl that read; **Made plans with Taylor last minute today. I left some stamps in the mailbox. If you could get the invitations done without me, that would rule. Ily - Nick. **I watched her open the mailbox and snatch the stamps, before storming up to my front door.

I always forget that Riley isn't afraid of confrontation.

The door shut with a loud thud, and her size 6 converse sounded like an army rolling up my stairs. I began counting down silently in my head. '5, 4, 3, 2 -'

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE 'LAST MINUTE PLANS'?" She asked, throwing up quotation marks with her fingers. My eyes widened with the volume of her voice, and she must have realized it, because she took a deep breath and lowered it. "Nick, we've been planning our entire party together for years. Now, we've hardly planned it at all. Your mom booked the place, my mom did the invitations..." She sighed. "Look, all I'm asking for is a little help with some stamps. I didn't even ASK you to go dress shopping with me, and you have always done tha-"

"Riley, you are such a drama queen. Do it yourself. You are capable of licking a stamp, right? I told you, I made plans." My voice was much colder than I had intended for it to sound.

She looked at me, stunned, before picking the stamps and my note off of my bed. "You're right." She smiled weakly. "It's a stupid tradition, anyways. Do you think you'd be able to go dress shopping with me tomorr-"

I cut her off again. "No, Riley, I don't think so. I don't have to be your shadow." I wanted to go dress shopping with her. Not because it was fun or anything, but because I knew it meant a lot to her to have me there. Taylor's text was fresh in my memory though, and I had to stand my ground.

She nodded again, but I could tell she was irritated. "Are we still going to have matching colors?" Another tradition that meant something to her, and me too, actually.

I shook my head. "I'm going to match whatever Taylor is going to wear. Since she's my date." That didn't matter and I knew it didn't. We both had been bringing dates to our party since we were ten, but we always matched each other.

She rolled her eyes and rested her hand on her hip. "Are you even still ATTENDING your birthday party? Or is that a no too, since I'm going to be there?" She caught her tone, and immediately went to correct herself. "I'll send the invitations. I'll buy my dress. It's not a big deal. What's going on, Nick? Why are you acting this way?"

God, it would have been so much easier if she wasn't always so nice. If she wasn't the most important person in my life. If I didn't have to act like she wasn't.

"Because Riley!" I exploded, more out of anger with myself than her. "We aren't attached at the hip, okay?! Do you think that when we're thirty years old we're going to have houses side by side and have our kids playing together like we did?!"

I knew that would get to her, that had always been our plan. "There's a time in life when you just can't be close to the girl you used to play in the sandbox with anymore!" God, my voice was cold.

The room was quiet for a minute before Riley spoke to me, her tone much softer, but her words much louder.

"I guess I never got that memo." I heard her close the front door quietly a few seconds later, and I didn't even peek out my window to see if she made it to her porch.

I sent Taylor a text. **Plans with the worse half have been cancelled, definitely. See you in a half hour.**

------------------------------------------------

I showed up to the small Italian restaurant a couple minutes late to a smiling Taylor who was rolling her new necklace between her fingers. "Hi, baby I already ordered for us." She greeted me, standing up and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm really sorry I'm late." I said sincerely. "I tried to avoid Riley with a note on the mailbox, but she just barged into my house like she lived there and cause a scene."

She shook her head sympathetically and grabbed my hand. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I always knew that girl would be trouble. She's done nothing but drag you down, when as your best friend, she should have been lifting you up."

I nodded. I wasn't exactly sure how Riley had been dragging me down, but it was enough for Taylor to notice. And thinking about it, what had she done to lift me up, lately? Nothing.

"You're right." I said. "She treats me like she treats everyone else. Which, I guess is okay-"

"That is definitely not okay!" Taylor exclaimed while twirling noodles that had been set down in front of her seconds earlier. "You are much more than an ordinary, every day boy, Nick! You should be treated that way."

My head was telling me how right she was. I wasn't an ordinary 14 year old boy, if anything, I was extraordinary. I had hit singles and sold out concerts. I hardly call that average.

We finished our pasta, and I paid the bill without question. "I should probably get going home" I said checking the time on my phone. "I promised my mom I'd be around for some family time tonight."

Taylor pouted, miserably. "Family time? Don't you get that…all the time?"

I laughed and put my arm around her waist. "If you call flying from New York to California three separate times in one weekend, surviving off of Starbucks and airplane packaged peanuts family time...then yeah. We have a lot of it."

Just about anyone could have caught the sarcasm in that statement, but in response she hopped up and down a couple times and shrieked, "Great! I was really hoping that you could come with me to help pick out my dress for your party." I started to protest when she ran her thumb across my lips and played the puppy dog face card.

"I guess I could spare an hour for an amazing girl."

An hour with an amazing girl turned into several hours, and with at least four rejected phone calls from everyone in the immediate family, riley and her mom and 11 voicemails, I knew I what was coming before I even opened my front door at 7:30 that night.

That's probably cause my very angry mother opened it before I could. In a strangely calm voice she said, "We're all in the living room, watching a movie. I suggest you go in there, sit down and mind your manners."

"I think I'll actually just go to my room." I wiggled past her and started up the stairs. Man, I had nerve. I closed my door behind me only for my mom to open it a couple seconds later.

"Nicholas, you're coming down stairs."

"Is Riley down there?" I asked, avoiding eye contact.

That got my mom's hopes high. I'd usually jump off a bridge with sharp rocks at the bottom if Riley was at the bottom. We're in inseparable. Well, correction. We WERE inseparable.

"Yes, she is."

"Then I'm DEFINITELY not going down there."

"She mailed 150 invitations by herself today. She's going dress shopping with her cousin tomorrow, and says it's not important to get a color you like because you won't be matching her this year. Is there any reason for that?"

I made eye contact with my mom for the first time since I'd been home. "Other than the fact that she's an obnoxious little witch who wants to do nothing but drag me down? No."

My mom backed out of the doorway, shaking her head. "Goodnight Nicholas. I think it would be wise to add some thoughts to your prayers tonight."

Normally, Kevin and Joe would wander into my room at some point during the night and ask how my day went, but instead, they murmured I love you's through my door. I was glad. I didn't really have the energy to talk to them, either. After all, what were they doing to help me? Singing along side me in our band? I was the reason there was any band to begin with.

The light in the window across from mine flickered on. I didn't want to look over, but my curiosity got the best of me and I glanced over. All of Riley's glue sticks and sheets of paper were out again. She was such a loser.

My phone vibrated as I got a text from Taylor.

**Nick, I wanted to tell you this for a while now, but I know what Riley told you about Max. About him hitting her and all. It is all such a bogus lie. I overheard her telling a girl down at the gas station about it today, about how she had you totally fooled. - Taylor**

I didn't even respond. My immediate reaction was to know that Riley would never, ever make something like that up. But the more I analyzed it, the more it made sense. Since I was gone so much, since I had bigger and better things to do with my time than to be there for her…she had to make something up.

My phone vibrated again, this one from Riley.

Goodnight, Nicholas. I love you. Always and Forever? -Riley

I looked into her window to see her looking at me, expecting the same ordinary boy who was always going to be there.

I closed my blinds and responded without a second thought.

**Go to hell, Riley.  
**

----------------------------------------------------

**I have pink eye, lol. I can't really see the screen, so hopefully there won't be any grammatical errors (:**

**Tell me what you think by reviewing, of course. **


	8. Promises Are Broken

**Riley's Point Of View**

I woke up the next morning, sick to my stomach. In the last week, I had gone from having an incredible life, to feeling hopeless. I had an amazing best friend, his two incredible brothers, and his new found love who was always a blast to be around. It was nice to have a girl to talk to once in awhile, not that I couldn't talk to any of the boys about anything. It's just...you know.

I hate to be negative and pin it all on Taylor, but Nick had changed so much since the night she went to dinner with us. No one had seen him at all the last few days. Regardless though, he had a mind of his own, and he could never blame his actions or his attitude on Taylor.

I was storming around the house, cleaning anything I could out of sheer frustration. Hearing 'Go to hell', from anyone was enough to break my heart, but from Nick? That was a whole different game. It didn't even have anything to do with the fact that he had never even LOOKED at me in an insulting way, let alone talked to me like he had been. That's just not who he was raised to be, and not who he had chose to be on his own, either.

He is my best friend. Not the stereotypical 'BFF!' definition that high school girls have, where there's a new one every month, as soon as things get rough.

I put the iPod on shuffle and turned it up as loud as it would go as I turned the vacuum on and rolled it across the tan carpet.

'Always and Forever' weren't just words to us. They had meaning. Life had thrown our friendship so many turns, bumps, fast balls and curve balls. Sometimes they crippled us, but we had never failed to help each other up, even when he was thousands of miles away, playing his guitar for thousands of screaming girls.

Call me cliché, but we was always my shoulder to cry on, my person to laugh, scream, mope and freak out with. And now I was feeling like all of that was gone.

Since the summer before I moved here, I had been without a father. He was a criminal who chose a life of drugs, theft and inconsistency over his wife and his little girl. I never had a solid male figure to lean on. Until I met Nick. Even when we were arguing, I always knew without a doubt that it would always be okay. I had based the solidity of my life around our friendship for the last eight years, day in and day out. I knew that Kevin and Joe love me like I was blood, in the same way that Nick did. But when it came down to it, I WASN'T blood, and if Nick and I stopped talking, they would eventually filter out of my life too.

Through all the days I felt completely worthless, the nights that I didn't understand why the one man who was supposed to love me more than any other bailed, he was right next door. He was a phone call away. We weren't the typical boy-girl friendship. We never hit on each other, or had a forbidden love. We were just a great example of what best friends should be.

What was I supposed to do when all that came crashing down?

I turned my heart necklace that had "Philippians 4:13" carved into it.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I muttered out loud before adding "But I'd feel a whole lot better if I had my best friend to help me."

The doorbell rang, and I opened it to my best friend Amanda, with a big smile on her face and a green tea frappucino in each hand. "Turn that frown, upside down, girl!" She exclaimed. "Your party is in THREE days, and from what I understand, we've got an amazing dress to get you!"

I sighed and decided that today was going to be a good day…or as good as it could be.

We spent a good half hour screaming along to "It's About Time", laughing at some of the corny lyrics, and laughing even harder about the fact that Nick could get his voice higher than either of us.

We were walking into the third mall of the day. I had found my dress in the first, but we were having too much fun to stop. I was in the middle of telling Amanda the Frankie Jonas original "Why did the earth cross the road?" joke, when I caught a glimpse of brown shaggy hair and an all too familiar wide smile. I grabbed Amanda by the elbow.

"What's wrong?" She asked, hiding behind a sign with me.

I felt my body tense and my blood run cold. "My ex boyfriend, Max. He's in this store."

"So, strut your stuff, girl!"

I laughed. 'Don't let it effect you. Don't let it effect you.' I gave my self a mental pep talk before I stopped dead in my tracks again at the sight of another brunette.

This one with much longer hair, that was spiraled in a way that Nick told me he could never comprehend.

He was with Taylor.

And they were holding hands.

I immediately dug my cell phone out of my back pocket and began to dial Nick's number, when I realized he wouldn't believe a word I had to say, if he listened to a word at all.

I looked down at my phone as it read 'Connecting to Joe's Mobile'

"Joe!" I screamed into the phone. "What's the deal with Nick and Taylor?"

"I don't know." He responded. "He's walking around with his nose in the air like he's God's gift to the planet. He made me ask him permission to get MY toothpaste out of his room today."

"Okayloveyoubye."

I hung up quickly and peeked around the sign and squinted my eyes. "No necklace." I whispered to myself. "Imagine that."

I brainstormed as fast as I could, knowing first hand that Andy didn't spend more than five minutes at a time in a store. I gritted my teeth in anger, and pulled my pink razr out of my back pocket again.

I couldn't care less if Nick was hiring a hit man for me at the same time. He was still my best friend, and as much as I thought he deserved a broken heart right now, I knew my bark was much worse than my bite.

I pressed the side button on my phone, and then up as far as it would go. You would've thought the two of them were magnetic strips, the way they were attached to each other. I gagged silently and pressed the 'OK' button in the center.

Nick may think I was a bitter adolescent playmate, but my camera phone didn't know how to hold a grudge.

-----------------------------------------

I had been laying on my bed all day, bored out of my mind. Kevin and Joe were out together, so even if I wanted to talk to them…which I can assure you I didn't, I couldn't. I flipped my sidekick open and created a new message to Riley before slamming it shut.

'What are you thinking?' I asked myself.

I had called Taylor twice throughout the day, left a voicemail and sent three texts. She hadn't responded to any of my attempts, and I wanted to call again, but I knew that'd be weird.

I had eaten three massive bowls of cereal, beat every song Guitar Hero had to offer and Mortal Kombat had lost it's appeal after about my billionth fight.

So there I was, staring at my ceiling. I let my mind wander.  
I thought about how wonderful Taylor was. How beautiful she was and how amazing she made me feel. About how considerate it was of her to point out the way Riley was acting when I was too blind to see it. I almost laughed at the thought of Riley. How pathetic. Coming up with a story like the one she did about Max. I always knew he was a good guy. I felt stupid for believing her.

My thoughts were interrupted by a text message, from Taylor.

**Sorry sugar. I've been sick in bed all day! Think I ate some bad food at the restaurant yesterday. -Taylor**

I was relieved, but felt terrible that she didn't feel well, and started silently planning a way to make her feel better. Not that it would have really mattered if I did it out loud. I was the only one home. No one had hardly even talked to me the last few days.

What was everyone's problem?

I brainstormed some things I could do, when a car pulled up in front of my house. I pushed my blinds down to a semi familiar white mustang, and a very familiar girl getting out of the passenger door.

"What is she doing here?" I griped as I watched Riley walk up to the door. I waited a few seconds to hear it open and close, like always, but instead, the doorbell rang. I was confused for only a second before remembering the that A) I couldn't stand her, B) She wasn't welcome and C) You don't just waltz into the Jonas house.

I took my time walking down the stairs and cemented the seriously annoyed look to my face. I was surprised to see Riley was wearing almost an identical one. As usual, her incredibly agitated mood didn't come across in her voice. "I need to talk to you, Nick."

"I'm sure you do." I said, leaning against the door. "But, I really don't have time for EX best friends, who also double as pathetic, lying, selfish drama queens."

With that, she welcomed herself into the doorway and shut the door behind her, causing me to take a few steps back. "What are you talking about?"

I took a deep breath and opened the door again. "If you have something to say, we're going to have to go to the porch. I don't want you in my house."

"YOUR house?!" She asked, putting major emphasis on it. "YOURS? The last time I checked, there were five other people that lived here-"

"Well, none of them are here right now, are they?"

She rolled her eyes, and chose to not fight this battle, because she stepped out onto the porch. I casually reclined in one of the chairs while she stood there, arms crossed. I really didn't have time for this, there was things I needed to be doing for Taylor. It was sort of humorous though, the way she thought I cared, and I needed a good laugh.

Her voice started up again, still calm. "You left off at pathetic, lying, selfish drama queen."

"I forgot stupid."

Riley rolled her eyes. "What did I do now, Nick? Did I piss off your princess of a girlfriend, just like I always do?"

My blood really started to boil. I used to know how to keep my cool even in the craziest of situations. Not anymore. "This has NOTHING to do with Taylor!" I shouted, standing up. "This has to do with the fact that you couldn't handle me caring about another girl. You've had your eye on me for so long, that when some competition showed up you had to make up some sob story about Max abusing you."

She looked like she could hardly believe what I had just said, which was understandable. I didn't expect her to comprehend big words like 'competition' right away.

"I'll just start at the beginning, cause I don't know where else to." She sighed, and I could tell she was really angry by the way she kept moving her hands from her back pockets to her front ones. She's always done that.

"You know **damn** well that I have never had feelings for you and you have never had feelings for me, Nick." I rolled my eyes, it was obvious she liked me, but she wouldn't admit it.

"I've called you my BROTHER for years now. I'm not attracted to you. Not. Even. Sort of. I think your hair is too big and your eyes are too small. You're too tall and your pants are too tight. If I was a jealous wreck about you and other girls, don't you think that would've started, oh I don't know, when you had THOUSANDS of girls screaming for you?"

Her hands kept shifting, but her voice still didn't raise. 'What's screaming going to solve?'…that's what she always said.

"You are my best friend. I'd say 'nothing more, nothing less', but there is nothing more important when you're a teenager than what you are to me. I have never lied to you, Nick. Never. Even when the hardest thing in the world to do was to tell you the truth, I did it. Because I've had a lot of really fucked up friendships, and I vowed that I would do everything in my power to make sure this one stayed good the day I slammed my door in your face."

I felt myself smile, remembering the day I had first met Riley, but quickly wiped it away. "Taylor told me, Riley. And it's time you drop the act. She heard you at the gas station before I went to lunch with her. She heard you tell someone you lied."

I smirked. Good luck coming up with a cover for that one.

"The gas station?" She asked. "Nick, when you went to lunch with her, I was over at your house first thing in the morning rambling about invitations. Then I spent the entire day with your family, and didn't go home until after you did. When would I have been able to see her, when the only time you weren't with me, you were with her?"

She thought that up quick, but it still wasn't going to work. "So? You went before you came over."

She laughed. "I came over in my Scooby Doo pajamas right after I had rolled out of bed, in case you don't remember." She shook her head and pulled out her phone. "Taylor probably told you that story about Max, because of this." She pressed some buttons on her phone, and slid it into my hand.

The screen showed a brunette girl, who looked a lot like Taylor holding hands with a guy I recognized on sight as Max. Her head was on his shoulder, and I could tell but the clothing racks that surrounded them that they were in Charlotte Russe, Taylor's favorite store. She had a yellow dress hung over her arm. My eyes shot to the girls neck. No necklace.

I smirked. "For one, it can't be Taylor. She's not wearing her necklace. And for two, Taylor has been home **all day**. Sick."

"Yeah, she's sick alright." Riley groaned and snatched her phone back. "I give you a PICTURE of the kind of person this girl really is and you're still too wrapped up in your own inflated ego to accept it!" She stormed off the porch and into her own lawn.

I grabbed my jacket and began to walk towards Taylor's. The girl in the picture definitely looked like her, and I knew for a fact the guy was Max. Riley had crossed the line now. Coming up with a terrible story about Max like she had was one thing, but trying to ruin my relationship to satisfy herself was something completely different. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that anyway I looked at it, Riley would always be in my life. My entire family loved her, and if it turned out that she was right, I would have to apologize. I would fight it as long as I could, though.

I mean, I haven't done anything wrong.

I rang the door bell on the huge house and waited for a few seconds before a brown-haired girl, wrapped up in sweats and messy hair answered the door.

Taylor stood there, looking up at me confused, her heart necklace shimmering.

**God, I hated Riley.**

-------------------------------------

**I was listening to the original of 'WYLMITE' as I wrote this, and it made me really sad. Nick sounds so cute in it, though. If you haven't heard it, listen!**

**And tell me what you think.**

**Oh, and also, since most of the people reading this read my other stories as well, they are ALL ON HOLD.**

**I'm so sorry, but they'll be back soon, I promise. This one I'll update every night, though! (:**

**There's only a couple chapters left, so keep reading!**


	9. Way Too Smart To Be Waiting Around

After yesterday's events, I was even more annoyed with the human race. The fact that the doorbell woke me up this morning irritated me too. The fact that Joe answered it to Riley's excited voice was icing on the cake.

"Hey!" I heard her say happily. I could picture her smiling widely and jumping on Joe in an airport scene remake sort of hug. Why was she so happy anyways? Her and I had been having the worst week in our entire almost decade long friendship, and she was still acting like she won a million dollars. She really knew how to get under my skin.

"Hey girl!" Joe sounded just as excited. "Are you ready for your big night?"

I groaned and shoved my head underneath my pillow. I had totally forgotten. Tonight was our party. I rolled out of bed and stumbled down the stairs. Riley was now perched on the couch, still looking vibrant, asking Frankie how she should do her hair for tonight.

She pulled out a curling iron and a flat iron from her backpack that was stuffed full of things and I cleared my throat.

"He's six. I don't think he's the person you should ask." I still hated her, but it WAS the day of my party, so I was going to be civil. A small part of me was waiting for her to say I was right, then ask me what I thought.

"You're right." She started with a smile. She then turned towards and kitchen and raised her voice to a slight yell so she'd be heard. "Hey, Joe! You want to help me do my hair for tonight?"

I rolled my eyes, remembering why I hated her so much to begin with. Joe strolled out of the kitchen, mouth stuffed with cinnamon toast crunch. "Totally." He spit square pieces of cereal everywhere, and Riley laughed. I thought it was disgusting.

"Awesome!" She smiled AGAIN. She gave him a quick hug and grabbed her backpack before running towards the stairs.

"Why are you going upstairs?" I asked, making sure I sounded rude.

She gave me a genuine smile. "Kevin and Joe invited me to get ready here…" And with that, she was out of sight.

I turned to Joe, who was picking the cereal off the floor and putting it back into his bowl.   
"What are you thinking?!" I asked, not believing he'd actually let her get ready in MY house.

He looked down into his cereal bowl and then back up at me. "Ten second rule, dude."

"Not that, Einstein. Why would you tell Riley she could get ready here?"

Joe continued to gaze at me, dumbfounded. "Because her mom is working, mom and dad are at the hotel making sure everything is set for tonight, and she gets ready for the party here every year, Nick. Remember? She'd come over, you guys would watch cartoons, eat a box of Oreos, take your showers and then run around the house like chicken with their heads cut off trying to get ready in time."

I sat silently for a minute. He was right. She DID get ready here every year. We'd sit and watch cartoons for hours and hours and then complain that no one had told us we had to leave in two hours. That's not the way things were anymore, though.

"You don't understand that things change, do you?"

Joe shook his head and set his bowl down on the counter. "No, Nick. Because the only thing that's changed is you."

He grabbed Frankie's hand and whispered a "Let's go help Ri get ready, buddy." before walking out of the room.

He wouldn't even look at me, and his words had hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew he was wrong, I mean, I knew all of this was Riley's fault, but still. Joe was the craziest, goofiest guy in the world, and when he got serious about something, everyone knew it was a big deal. Even though he had no idea what he was talking about, it still hurt.

I sent Taylor a text message. **Could you come over? Riley's here spending time with my brothers, and I don't feel like even being in the same country as her, let alone house.**

She responded almost instantly. **On my way :) -Taylor**

I smiled and stretched my arms over my head. She was so amazing.

Someone had turned on the radio in Kevin and Joe's room and had it turned up to what I'm sure was the highest volume possible. The intro to the song was even making the living room windows rattle. It was suddenly silent and I heard Kevin's voice echo obviously down the stairs.

"Gee, Riley. This song pretty much describes how you're feeling right now, doesn't it? With your best friend TOTALLY ABANDONING you and all?"

I heard Riley, much softer, not intending for me to hear. "Don't, Kev. You're just going to make him even more mad."

"So?" Joe asked, clearing his throat and doing his best to impersonate Riley. "Why yes, Kevin. It sure does. And I can't believe how amazing Joe's hair looks today!"

I heard them all laugh as the song resumed play and I rolled my eyes at their immaturity. I couldn't help but hear the lyrics.

_I never dreamt it'd be this way.  
I've lost any chance for me to say...  
To say that I miss you, say that I love you.  
Will someone please tell me I'm okay?_

I wasn't prepared for what's to come,  
A life made of memories gone so young.  
And now I'm regretting all I've done,  
But in your heart know that I'm with you all along.

Wherever you go, I will be waiting.  
Whenever you call, I will be there.  
Whatever it takes, I'll make your darkest days so bright...  
I'm in your heart tonight.

I sighed. The music stopped again and Joe's impersonation was back. "Wow, I wish Nick had a head, or better yet, that he started thinking with the right one!"

I heard the sound of Riley's hand meeting his arm right before she yelled, "JOSEPH ADAM!" as a response to his perversion.

Joe snickered and began his not-so-girl voice once more.

"Mostly though, I wish his heart hadn't been taken over by the Wicked Witch of the Fans."  
He laughed at his own joke, and un paused the song again.

_I never thought that this could go,  
And take me away from all I know.  
And leave me to think I'm on my own  
But your love will take me..._

You were the one  
Who sat through nights  
You held me tight  
And made sure I'm okay  
And I thank you for the love you gave to me

Wherever you go, I will be waiting  
Whenever you call, I will be there  
Whatever it takes, I'll make your darkest days so bright  
I'm in your heart tonight...

------------------------

In that moment, I started to break. Taylor had made this last week so incredible, but for some reason, I felt like everything was falling apart. I wanted to go back to the day at the pool, where my brothers were laughing, my best friend was smiling and the most beautiful girl in the world was happy. We were all happy together.

I answered the door to Taylor's knock with a less than amused look on my face. She cocked her head to the side and ran her hand down my arm. "What's wrong, Nicky?" she asked.

As if on cue, laughter erupted from upstairs. I walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch without a word. Taylor followed me and sat down. I started talking.

"Everything went from amazing, to perfect, to...", I looked up at her, not wanting her to think it was her fault. "I don't know. I'm finding out all these things about the girl that knows me better than I know myself, things that-"

I was cut off by Kevin, running down the stairs.

"Hey Kevin!" Taylor smiled sweetly.

Kevin gave a slight, uninterested head nod before turning to me.

"Yo, Nick. Mom just called, we're gonna go down to the hotel with Riley to make sure everything's cool for tonight. She said she'd knew you wouldn't want to co-"

"I want to come." I said, almost over enthused. I glanced at Taylor who was looking at me like I had horns and four eyeballs. I sunk back into the cold, heartless robot mode I'd been in for the last days at the sight of it. "There's no way I'm going to let HER make all the decisions. It's my party too."

Taylor smiled and squeezed my hand, like she was proud.

Kevin rolled his eyes.

Riley smiled, but for the first time all day, I caught the hurt in her eyes. "Well, then we better get going."

We all piled into the car, Joe offering Riley shot gun, leaving him next to Taylor in the back. She gave up on making conversation with him after he blatantly ignored her several times, the last cutting her off to say, "Hey Kev? You know what I really hate? Psycho girls who try to tear lives apart."

I heard it, and even though I knew I shouldn't, I secretly found it somewhat funny. Not that he had said it to Taylor or anything, but just his blunt sense of humor. I was still thinking about what made her so happy about me being rude to my brother and Riley, when music stole my thoughts again.

_Didn't you want to hear  
The sound of all the places we could go?  
Do you fear  
The expressions on the faces we don't know?  
It's a cold hard road when you wake up  
and I don't think that I  
Have the strength to let you go._

I was far too proud to tell anyone in the car that I was sorry, and I definitely wasn't brave enough to say it in front of Taylor. For being as extraordinary as I was, I felt really stupid.  
So, instead I cleared my throat. "Hey, uh, Kevin..could you turn it up? I really like this song."

He turned the volume up hardly at all and I kicked the back of Riley's seat in an accidental-on purpose sort of way.

She must have got the hint, because she reached her hand over and turned it up a little more so she could hear what I was trying to tell her without saying it.

_Maybe it's just me, Couldn't you believe  
That everything I said and did, wasn't just deceiving?  
And the tear in your eye, and your calm hard face  
Makes me wish that I was never brought into this place._

I caught a glimpse of a smile from the side view mirror, and I let out a small sigh of relief. We pulled up in front of the hotel, and were greeted by my mom who gave us all hugs and kisses on the cheek, and Taylor a polite, but undeniably forced smile. We walked into the ballroom which had been our birthday bash room the year earlier, too. It was awesome though. The ceilings were so high, and this incredible chandelier hung right in the center. The caterers had already began to set up the food along the back wall, and the DJ was making the final adjustments to his booth as he tested the microphone.

"How does everything look?", My Dad asked, putting his hands on Riley and I's shoulders.

"It looks alright." I said. I was so used to being negative by now.

Riley shot me a glance. She knew how hard our parents had worked to make this night great for the both of us.

"It looks AMAZING, Dad." She gave him a hug. After just a few months of knowing us, Riley had started calling my father 'Dad'. Hers was the epitome of a total jerk, and at seven years old, she had explained to my Dad in depth how him leaving had affected her life. He told her that she could call him Dad, and he would do everything he could to look after her as his own, since her Mom was hardly never home, always working to try and pay the bills.

He smiled. "Well, I'm glad you think so." He tossed her a key. "Because there's something waiting for you outside."

Her brown eyes grew wide as her and Joe tripped over each other to scramble for the front door. She jumped onto Kevin's back and screamed as she looked at her brand new white Cadillac Escalade. She ran inside to say thank you, I'm sure, and ran back out, still screaming.

"Kevin!" She gave a loud whisper. "I told Dad that you were going to give it a test drive." She raised her eyebrows. "Since I only have my PERMIT, you know?"

Kevin snickered. "So, I'm driving it until we're out of sight, then you're taking over?"

She nodded excitedly while Kevin and Joe slid into the car and skipped over to where Taylor and I were standing.

"You guys just gonna stand there, or are you gonna come with us?!"

I was excited to ride around in the new car. I smiled widely and opened my mouth to agree when Taylor squeezed my hand. I looked in her direction, and the look on her face told me exactly what I needed to say.

"No." I started boldly. "I don't really feel like rolling around in that thing, or being with the people in it."

Her face dropped, right along with my stomach as Taylor put her head on my shoulder. She looked up at Riley and spoke for the first time since we got to the hotel.

"You heard him, Riley. He's staying with me."

---------------------------------

**Taylor's stupid (:**

**But I thought I'd let you know that the Taylor this was based on is really nothing like her. Haha, okay well anyway, there's only about two chapters left, and updates will be really fast since I have it saved on my computer.**

**Oh, and I had my Winter Ball on Saturday, and they played S.O.S AND WYLMITE. Yay! One more thing! If you guys have MySpace's, send me the url and we can talk. I'm pretty cool (:**


	10. The Way We Were

As the white Cadillac drove away, I looked over at a now satisfied Taylor. I smiled, thankful that she was happy. She snuggled up to me like she was my second skin before saying, "Why don't you finish what you were saying back at the house?"

I looked at her slightly confused. I didn't even remember what I had been saying, my mind was so cluttered. She giggled. "About this last week. About how everything had been so amazing...and then Mr. Obnoxious cut you off to drag us here."

"I wanted to come." I said softly. It wasn't sticking up for my brother nearly as much as I should have been, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. "I was saying that I feel like everything is coming undone. All the things I've heard about Riley from you, I mean…I don't even know for sure that they're true.."

She ripped her hand away from mine, exaggerating her facial expression to the point of something I would have expected for killing her dog.

"Are you saying you think I'm a liar, Nick?"

I shook my head. That wasn't what I meant to say. Was it? Taylor wouldn't lie to me. Taylor cared about me.

"Not at all" I started, wrapping my arms around her. "It's just that, Riley has never lied to me either. So after eight years, it's hard to think that she would."

Taylor pushed my arms from her waist and took a step back, still obviously offended. She looked down at her feet, then directly in my eyes. "Have you ever thought that maybe she has, Nick? Maybe she has and she's just never gotten caught. Her sweet and innocent act has everyone wrapped around her little manicured fingernail. I see through all the smoke and mirrors. You should too."

I nodded, but the weight on my heart was back. I didn't totally agree with what she was saying anymore. I knew that Kevin, Joe…and especially Riley were all annoying. They were still a huge part of me though. If I wanted Taylor to stick around though, that would have to change.

She stood on her tip toes to give me a quick kiss. "Don't let it bring you down. Today is a BIG day for you, and I promise that tonight will be amazing."

I looked down to catch a sincere look that was shining in her green eyes. She smiled, and I didn't have a care in the world. I wrapped my arms around her again and lifted her up, spinning her around and around, right in the middle of the valet parking lot. She laughed a contagious laugh, and soon we were both sitting on the sidewalk, holding our stomachs.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Taylor." It's not something I would normally say, but I meant it.  
I gave her a kiss, before she pulled away.

"That's good. Because you'll never have to find out."

The white Cadillac came whipping back into the parking lot, and Riley jumped out of the driver seat in stealth mode, peeking up from behind the door to make sure none of the adults were watching for her. Kevin out his arm around her shoulder as they walked towards the hotel doors. She kept her eyes directed at the ground while Joe whispered something to her that made her laugh.

"Hey," she started, stopping a few feet away from me. "Dad wants us inside to make sure the play list has everything we want on it."

I looked up at her, hoping for a chance to throw a dirty look her way when I saw her eyes. They were red and puffy, and there was no doubt that she had been crying. It didn't keep me from being a jerk.

"Well see what you can manage on your own, and I'll be in to help you along in just a minute."

Joe stepped towards me and opened his mouth to say some things I knew Momma wouldn't want to hear when Riley grabbed his arm. "Don't, Joe. It's not going to change anything."

They slipped into the hotel, and after a few minutes of silence, Taylor and I followed. We walked into the ballroom to everyone erupting in laughter. Kevin, Joe and Riley were have a battle in the middle of the dance floor that was winding down as the final seconds of "Mmmbop" played through the many speakers.

The three of them were grinning like it was the best thing that had ever happened to them. It disgusted me.

The next voice began flooding through the speakers.

_Everybody makes mistakes,  
Everybody has those days.  
Everybody know's what, what I'm talking 'bout,  
Everybody gets that way._

"SHUT IT OFF!" Everyone screamed at once. Riley was having another laughing fit as she gazed up towards the DJ booth.

"None of that nonsense tonight, please."

The DJ nodded his head and Riley walked over in my direction. "Hey, if there's anything you want added to the play list, just go tell him and he'll put it on for you."

Taylor squeezed my hand to remind me to be strong, before excusing herself to take a phone call.

"Riley, why are you talking to me?"

She smiled. It was so frustrating how happy she was, especially when my life felt like it was falling apart. She must have got some sick satisfaction out of it. After all, it was her fault.

"Because, Nicholas." She put her hand on my shoulder. "This is OUR birthday party. I love you, and it's for the best if we just have fun with it."

I pushed her arm off of my shoulder.

"If you ever knew what was best for me, if you ever loved me at all, you would've left my life a long time ago, Riley."

I regretted it as soon as I said it.

She looked me dead in the eyes as the next song began to play.

She shook her head as tears started to brim.

_I was losing myself to somebody else  
But now I see, I don't wanna pretend  
So this is the end of you and me.  
Cause the girl that you want, she was tearing us apart.  
Cause she's everything, everything I'm not._

"How incredibly appropriate." She mumbled, and left.

-----------------------------

After what I had said to Riley earlier, no one in my family would even look at me. Even my always kind mother was avoiding me at all costs. I had stopped in the kitchen for a few minutes when we got home, and the smile that she was wearing from one of Joe's stupid, immature jokes instantly faltered at the sight of me.

Taylor had gone home once we had left the hotel, and I was entirely alone in a house full of people. You could cut the tension with a knife, but the only person anyone had tension with was me. I had been in my room, ready to go for the last two and half hours, and I still have another hour gleeful 60 minutes to go before we even left. I turned my iPod up as far as it would go, but it didn't stop me from hearing the jokes and laughter from the Brady Bunch that was infesting my living room between songs.

I rolled off my bed and stood up directly in front of the mirror. I was a shell. I know that doesn't make much sense, but I was. I adjusted my light pink tie. Taylor had drug me into what I'm sure was close to every store in Jersey that sold ties after she bought her dress until we found the exact color. It meant a lot to me that she cared so much about looking nice for my party.

Everything about me was the same as it had been a week ago, when I looked in the mirror. Almost. I was still tall, I was still skinny and my brown curls still wild. My eyes though, that's what got me. They were still small and brown, but they were cold. A week ago, my eyes told stories. Happy ones, funny ones, crazy and scary ones. They smiled even when I wasn't.

The eyes that were looking back at me were cold and so close to empty. They had no fire, no life. And they only told me one story: _You are everything you swore you'd never be._

I shook my head and turned away from the mirror, not willing to look at it anymore. Whatever I was thinking, it was wrong. Maybe everything I swore I would never be is the way I should have been all along. It had gotten me an amazing girl, and showed me everyone else's true colors. Which might I add, sucked.

I glanced up to the clock that was on my window sill. 7:55. We were planning to leave at 8. My gaze continued upward as I saw something move in the window across from mine. It was Riley, and even though I couldn't see any detail through the clutter of each set of blinds, I could tell that her dress was pink. Light pink.

I looked down at my tie and groaned. "Just my luck." Riley grabbed what looked like a book off of her bed along with her purse and hurried out her door at the sound of a car horn in front of my house. I separated the blinds with my fingers to see Joe and Kevin waiting for her in the new car.

I heard their muffled cat calls and Joe shouting "SHAKE WHATCHA MOMMA GAVE YA!" through my window and Riley climbed into the car carefully, making sure to not face plant in her heels. They drove down the street smiling and screaming, not even glancing back.

There was a knock at my door and it opened, my Dad standing in the doorway. He looked everywhere in the room except my eyes when he said, "We're leaving now." before closing the door again.

The car ride there was very awkward...for me at least. My parents were talking, laughing and having a regular comedic show down like their son wasn't in the back seat.

Everyone's happiness was totally bogus. There is no way they could be that genuinely happy without me.

By the time we pulled up in front of the hotel, I was out of the car before it had even stopped. I was disgusted that these people were actually my family, and if I was around them any longer, it was definitely going to ruin my night.

As I approached the front doors, the lines of new friends, old friends and acquaintances started to scream their greetings at me. I smirked and walked past them as Rob checked their names off one by one on the list.

I'm Nick Jonas, and if these people wanted me to actually associate with them, it was going to take a little more than a smile and a "Hey Nick! Happy Birthday." People are so fake, it made me sick.

Taylor was waiting for me at the door with an impatient look on her face. "It's 8:45, Nicky." I hated it when she called me that, but I knew better than to complain. "You told me you would be here at 8:30, no later. I've had to stand outside with all of these stupid people for fifteen minutes…all of them looking at me like I'm a piece of meat."

I turned back to look at the crowd. "Well, now it looks like all eyes are on me, so rest easy, babe."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand as we walked through the doors. From the crowd of people outside, I wasn't expecting the ballroom to be packed. But, it made sense. Everyone wanted to try to get into my party. It made me laugh. People are so pathetic.

Taylor and I sat down at near the gift table, as crowds of people walked past us without a word. She managed to give 100 of the girls she laid eyes on a disgusting looks while instantly insulting something about them. After about the 50th girl, I began to block her out. The gifts were piling up, but I didn't care.

Not one person had said something to since I had walked in the doors hours ago. I gazed across the room to see Riley, smiling wide. Her arms were linked with Joe and Kevin's, and swarms of people kept coming up to her, giving her kisses on the cheek and taking pictures with her. She looked so happy. She looked so beautiful, in her Riley sort of way. I kept watching her for awhile, and with every minute I got more and more depressed.

I looked across the table at Taylor, who had a permanent glare plastered on her face for everyone to see. What happened to the smiling girl who made me laugh? More importantly, what happened to MY smile? What happened to MY laugh?

I shifted in my seat.

I missed talking to my parents. I missed Kevin's advice. I missed Joe's ridiculous sense of humor. But there was one pain that was really eating at my heart. **I missed Riley.**

I hadn't noticed, but I had zoned out with my eyes fixated on her. She seemed to notice, and when I came back to my senses, she was waving a hand in front of her face from across the room and mouthing an "Earth to Nick."

I smiled weakly. God, I was sad. She smiled back and grabbed the book I had seen her grab from her bed earlier from a table before walking in my direction. Taylor rolled her eyes and slammed her head down on the table at the sight. "Great, this should be entertaining."

Riley finally reached the table and immediately turned to Taylor.

"Hey honey!" She smiled.

It was the fakest voice, and most forced smile I had ever seen in my life. She continued.

"I see we're looking extra promiscuous today!"

Taylor's eyes darted towards me, waiting for me to defend her.

I didn't.

Riley pressed on.

"It's okay though. Self respect isn't something a girl who cheats has, anyways. Speaking of which, great dress."

I lifted my eyes from my feet to look at Taylor's dress. I hadn't even noticed.

It was yellow.

Taylor snickered. "Look, _Little Miss Used To Be_. Why don't you run along and cry some more because your little buddy has moved on to bigger and better things." Her eyes narrowed, and she continued. "You're nothing to anyone here. The only reason they're talking to you if because they feel bad for the fatherless little charity case." She stuck out her bottom lip and put her hand over her heart. "So touching. The girl that no one can ever love for too long." She wasn't done yet, folding her hands and putting them on the table. "But who could blame them? You're disgusting, Riley. You cling to Nick like a leech, and you've been like a lost puppy ever since you realized-" She took a breath. "That you mean nothing to him."

Before I had time to react, Riley had thrown the book onto the gift table behind me, and had started running for the front doors, her hands over her eyes.

I set my fists on the table a little more loudly than I had intended to and looked directly at Taylor.

"You are not bigger, and definitely no where **near** better than Riley. She's nothing to you, but she is my **entire world**. I can tell you for a fact, that every single person here has been a better person since the day they met her. I have loved that girl with **every** piece of me since I was seven years old."

Her eyes were growing wide as my rant grew longer.

"The only person who is a nobody here, is **you**."

I pushed away from the table and stood up.

"And _Little Miss Used To Be_, is Little Miss **Always Will Be**."

I started for the door with Taylor on my heels, grabbing my elbow. "Nicky, I'm so sorry, ple-"

I cut her off. "Taylor, get off of me. I never want to see you again."

She smirked and let go of me as we paused in the lobby.

"Nick, me dating you was a bet! A bet that an average girl couldn't get amazing Nick Jonas. But guess what? You aren't all that amazing. Riley's story about Max was **true**, but you took some random girl's word over your best friend. You ARE a keeper. I saw Riley at the mall that day. I saw her take the picture, and I knew I had to get home before you suspected something. You're so easy to fool Nick. I've been dating Max this entire time, and you were too caught up in yourself to realize it."

I caught her eyes and held contact. "Well, you taught me a huge lesson, Taylor."

Her eyes lit up with victory as a smile slid across my face. "Of exactly what no girl should **ever **be."

Her face fell, and I couldn't have cared less. I turned my back to her and ran out the front doors just in time to see a brand new white Cadillac whipping out of the parking lot.

She never heard me defend her.


	11. All At Once

**BEFORE YOU GET EXICTED, THIS CHAPTER IS REALLY SHORT. BUT SWEET, STILL. I'LL UPDATE AGAIN TOMORROW NIGHT. PROMISE (:**

I turned around after Riley pulled out of the parking lot and ran directly into a purple suit jacket covered chest.

I took a step back and looked up into two sets of eyes that I had known all my life.

I rolled my eyes and sat down on the pavement. "If you guys are going to tear me apart, just get it over with."

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Before we think of doing that, stop putting Negative Nancy out of her job."

They sat down on both sides of me, each of them putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I've been a huge jerk lately, haven't I?" I asked.

They both laughed pretty hard at the question.

"Mega."

"Ultra, Super Mega."

"Family of 12 could feast on it and have left over's mega."

I laughed and rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands. "How bad was it?"

Joe put his hands behind his head and laid on the pavement.

"The old Nicholas would put this Nick Jonas in a head lock with his untouchable muscles and hold him there until he either apologized or passed out."

He paused.

"I know, you've done it to me."

I shook my head in disbelief.

"All in a week, dude. One week. How could I have changed so fast?"

Kevin and Joe exchanged another 'What's with all the stupid questions, Nick?' look before Kevin cleared his throat.

"I don't know. It's a nasty virus that's going around. About 5'7", brown hair, green eyes, obnoxious voice and a toxic laugh."

"What was the name of it again?" Joe asked, painting a confused expression on his face. "Sailor? Trailer? Yeah, that's it. Trailer Taylor."

I grimaced at the thought and looked over my shoulders. "You should of heard what she said to me in the lobb-"

"We did." They spoke in unison.

Kevin slid his hands into his pockets. "Joe and I might have sort of been staking out at the table behind you once Riley came over to talk. And once you got up to leave we might have hid behind a pillar in the lobby."

"That girl sucks."

Joe was so blunt, but I laughed. "I wonder where she went anyway."

"Girls bathroom." Joe answered almost to suddenly.

Kevin grinned. "Joe might have also had a spare glass of punch in his hand that happened to land all over Taylor's dress when I tripped him so clumsily on the way out here."

My eyes got wide. "You're kidding me!"

"Not." Joe was laughing. "But really, what's your game plan with the whole Riley thing?"

I sighed. "As soon as I can find her, I want to sit down and talk to her, if she'll have anything to do with me. And I want to play Underdog for her. That was my birthday present to her."

Joe jumped up at my words and ran inside.

Kevin smiled and was quiet for a minute. "Looks like we've gotta girl to find then."

I glanced at him confused. "You're telling me after I've been the worst brother in the entire world, you're going to help me out?"

Joe came back through the doors, two trash bags over his shoulders.

"In it together, or not in it at all."

I formed two fists and held them up on either side of me until two sets of knuckles hit against mine.

Kevin fished his car keys out of his pockets as we got to my parents car. "What's in the bags, Joe?"

Joe looked bewildered. "You didn't think I was seriously going to leave without the presents, did you?

We all laughed and climbed into the car. "Wait." I said. "How are mom and dad getting home if we're taking the car?"

"They're riding with Rob." Kevin looked into the rear view mirror at me. "Try to get a hold of Riley, see if you can figure out where she's at."

I took my sidekick out of my suit jacket pocket and spent the next forty five minutes calling her well over thirty times, and sending at least fifteen text messages. The last call attempt, I left a voicemail. Riley always answered her phone and her texts from me. Even when she was angry. I knew this was bad.

"Ri, it's Nick. I know I'm probably the last person on earth you want to talk to right now...besides Taylor", Joe reached to the back seat and hit me upside the head. It was a pretty stupid thing to say. "but, all I'm asking for is five minutes. Call me when you get this, or I'm going to bug you until you do. I love you."

A few minutes later, we were pulling onto the infamous cul-de-sac. No lights were on in Riley's house, and her car wasn't anywhere to be seen.

We walked into the house and up the stairs to our rooms. "Get some sleep, knuckle head." Kevin said, pulling me into a hug. "I'm proud of you. I'll wake you up tomorrow and we'll go over to Riley's."

"Yeah!" Joe shouted, changing into pajama pants. "Cause you're going to need as much help as you can get, buddy!"

We exchanged I love you's, and I crawled into bed. I deleted Taylor's number from my phone and smiled.

-----------------------------------------------

My bedroom door swung open, and a shawdow appeared above me from the still moonlit window. "Nick." it whispered. I opened my eyes and Kevin was hovering over me.

I looked at the clock.

3:59 AM. I groaned.

"When you said go to Riley's today, I didn't think you meant before the sun came up."

"You need to come downstairs to the living room."

I smiled. It was officially my birthday. I wonder what they had planned.

Kevin left the room and I slipped down the stairs a few minutes later.

The scene that was in front of me was definitely no birthday surprise.

I stumbled into the living room to see my Dad looking at ground and my Mom with her hand on her forehead. My eyes moved to the couch where Frankie was in a ball on Joe's lap. Joe was shaking, and when he looked up at me, I could see the tears pouring out of his eyes.

My Dad looked up from the ground, and sent my world crashing down onto me with six words:

"Riley's been in a car accident."

----------------------------------

**OKAY, I REALLY NEED REVIEWS ON THIS CHAPTER, SINCE I'M IN A HORRIBLE MOOD. POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS GOT DELETED : (**

**I'M SO SAD. I'LL TRY AND REPOST IT WHEN I CAN.**


	12. More Than Forever

All I remember from that moment are Kevin's arms breaking my collapse to the floor as I lost all composure. I had hyperventilated to the point that I could no longer breathe, and my screams were enough to wake up my entire street.

Once they managed to get me into the car, I shook the entire way to the hospital. I couldn't control and couldn't explain what was happening to me. I had shut down.

The pain that was in the pit of my stomach was beyond any physical pain I could have ever experienced.

I got to the Wyckoff Emergency Room at 4:15 in the morning on September 16th. I somehow managed to walk through the sliding glass doors, and sit down in a chair.

Joe at beside me, and put his hand on top of mine to slow down the shaking. Human contact sent me spiraling. It reminded me that this was real.

**This was really happening.**

I slid out of my seat and onto the cold tile floor with my knees pulled so close to me they were touching my face. My vision was blurry and the world was spinning.

I couldn't hear. I couldn't see. I couldn't think. My heart was completely shattered.

Sometime around 4:40, a nurse came from behind a big wood door.

"Are you the family of Riley Scott?"

My Dad nodded and stood up to shake the nurses hand.

"Can we see her?"

The nurse looked at the group of us.

"You can, but I'm afraid only one person. She's not doing too well."

I stood up, knees shaking. "Dad," I said. my voice was almost completely gone, and my eyes were swollen and burning to the point that I could barely see him. "Let me stay with her."

He nodded, and one by one each of my family members embraced me in a hug, each one making me more and more emotional. When Joe finally let go of me, he handed me a pink book with a foam heart on the front of it.

A picture of two smiling nine year olds looked up at me. They both had one arm wrapped tightly around each others shoulders, with the other, their pinkies were latched.

Underneath it were clippings from magazines that spelled out three of the most important words in the world: Always and Forever.

His voice was weak. "She's been working on it for weeks."

I flashed back to the glue sticks and construction paper that had been consuming Riley's room. I smiled.

"We'll be out here. Keep us updated."

I turned and walked through the door to follow the nurse down a hallway. It was bright and white, and the sound of all the beeping machines depressed me.

She stopped me in front of Riley's room.

"Before you go in there, there's a few things I need to tell you."

I nodded.

"What's your relation, first of all?"

"I'm her best friend."

Her facial expression was genuine worry.

"She's not in good shape. She has three broken ribs, a broken femur and several other fractures. She has internal bleeding. She's hooked up to several different machines, and she has lots of tubes in her, so don't be startled."

I swallowed loudly and nodded. She put her hand on my shoulder. "It's important that you try to remain as strong as you can."

I walked into a person I have never known. Her entire face was a combination of bruises and cuts, her usually beautiful features swollen to the point that they were unrecognizable. Her sun kissed arms were now road rash, her knuckles scabbing with blood. There were white bandages wrapped around her head and tubes in her mouth and nose. Her silky blonde hair was matted. Her eyes were closed.

I took a deep breath, and tears were rolling down my face again as i pulled a chair as close to her bed as it would go. "Is she sleeping?"

The nurse looked to the ground and then up at me again. "No. She's in a coma."

She walked over to a machine. "She has some serious brain damage. This is her life support."

A coma. Brain damage. I was waiting for Riley to sit up in the bed and start laughing, telling me she got me good.

It was morbid, but I wished she would.

"She's going to be okay though, right?" I grabbed her lifeless hand. "She's going to be able to come home?"

The nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we don't expect her to make it to tomorrow night. Her injuries are far too severe."

At her words, I was out of my seat and running back to the waiting room. I crash landed into my mom's lap and began to scream.

"TELL THEM THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT!" I yelled.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening.

"TELL THEM SHE'S GOING TO MAKE IT, TELL THEM SHE'S OKAY!"

This isn't happening. This isn't happening.

"TELL THEM THAT THERE'S NO WAY SHE CAN'T LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW. TELL THEM!"

My mother was crying, stroking the side of my face. "Nicholas, Riley is very hurt. Go spend your time God has given you with her wisely. You owe her that."

**This was happening.**

I closed my eyes and stood up, holding the side of my head. I made my way back to Riley's room and collapsed into her bed side chair, locking my hand with hers, and letting the tears fall.

"God," I said aloud, looking at the ceiling. "Please don't do this."

I looked at her mangled face and down at the scrapbook she had made. I began to flip through it one handed, my other still laced with hers. Pages upon pages of pictures smiled up at me. Years of memories flooded me through magazine clipping illustrated inside jokes and quotes. Stick figure drawings of two houses, side by side with picket fences. Jennifer Garner holding my hand and David Beckham holding hers. Movie tickets, concert tickets, funny stories. Pictures from both album release parties, and one of her and I from every show she had ever come to.

I flipped to the last page. It was a picture of the two of us sitting side by side at my dining room table. It was from the dinner the first night we had met. Both of us had scowls on our faces and our arms were crossed, making it as obvious as possible that we couldn't stand each other.

The caption under the final picture of the memoir of our friendship read: Forever.

It hit me so hard, and I continued to cry. "Ri." I started. "You've gotta be strong. I know it's stupid of me to say that, when I can't even be, but I need you to be. Just like you always are. Just like you have been this week. I thought I was being strong, but really, I was so vulnerable. I need you to pull through this. I.." I paused. "I need you."

I locked my other hand around hers. "We've always said forever. But, how long is forever, anyways? We always pictured being old, in a nursing home together or something. But here we are. We're too young for this, Riley. We haven't gone to Pinkberry yet. We haven't traveled the world. We haven't bought side by side houses. Our kids haven't grown up to be best friends...I haven't got you Jesse McCartney's autograph. You haven't seen our third album. Haven't come with us across the country for a tour. There's too much left for us to do for this to be it. We always say forever, Ri. But I need you for more than that."

Words came flooding to me as those came out of my mouth, and I grabbed the pen and note pad from her bedside stand.

For the next two hours, I sat in silence, praying and writing, until the nurse came in the room.

"Sir?" She said suddenly. "Her vital stats aren't looking good. We're going to need you to leave."

I choked on my words. "I just need five minutes."

She nurse smiled and left.

Riley and I never kissed. We never went on a date and the most romance there was between us was me allowing her to win in a burping contest. She was never my girlfriend, but she was my first love. She taught me how to love someone so selflessly, that you would give up your own life just to save theirs. She showed me how two people are supposed to care about each other, how they're supposed to treat each other...how they're supposed to love, laugh, cry, scream and live together. We never kissed in the rain, or even slow danced together. But throughout the years, we had experienced it all. The dozens of emotions that can bring tears to your eyes. The good, the bad, the ugly. The butterflies in our stomachs and the stars in our eyes. The fire in our hearts and the passion in our souls. The thousands of smiles. The ice cream days filled with heartache. The feeling that we were infinite, we were invincible, that we had the world at our mercy, as long as we had each other. I never brought her roses and I never walked her to her door for a goodnight kiss. **But this is still a love story.**

I kissed Riley's forehead. "If you can, please hold on. Please. But if you can't, Ri…if you're never going to be able to be happy again...then don't. Just know that I love you, and I will continue to love you whether I can see you or not."

I grabbed her hand and wiped my eyes. I held the paper I had been scribbling on shakily with my other hand and cleared my throat and began to sing softly.

I wanted my last words to mean something.

_Looking at a picture of you in my hands  
Wondering if I'm ever gonna see you again_

Without you I don't know how my life will be  
But I believe..  
It's not goodbye  
Cause I will remember you  
And I will see you again  
When I rise  
Cause I know and I believe  
I will see you in eternity

So close yet so far  
But in my heart you're here with me  
You did not leave  
You just went to live in eternity

Without you I don't know how my life will be  
But I believe  
It's not goodbye  
Cause I will remember you  
And I will see you again  
When I rise  
Cause I know and I believe  
I will see you in eternity

We will live in the light of the sun again  
Dancing in the river of life and  
Knowing that'll never end  
Forever by your side  
We'll never have to say goodbye  
Cause I will remember you  
And I will see you again  
When I rise  
Cause I know and I believe  
I will see you in eternity

I will see you in eternity.

**"Always and Forever."**

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**Is that the end?**

**You won't know unless you review.**


	13. EPILOGUE

The curtain that covered my bunk was yanked open and I rolled onto my stomach and pulled the comforter over my head to avoid the light that came pouring in.

"NICHOLAS! It's already 8:45! This is the third day in a row I've had to battle with you just to get you to come eat breakfast."

I groaned and opened my eyes as my comforter was torn away from me.

There was a grip my shoulder and I was pulled out of my bed and crash landing before I knew it. "Get up!!" A hand was offered to get me to my feet, the other holding a massive bowl, full of corn pops.

The consistent nagging would make the most patient person on earth pull their hair out.

**It made my day complete.**

A year ago, doctors were positive she wasn't going to live to see the next morning, let alone ever yell at me again.

But since when has she ever let the odds keep her down?

She made it to the next morning. And the next. And the next. After two solid months in acoma, she came out of it. The brain damage that they were sure would cripple her immensely, making her unable to live a normal life was gone without a trace. No one could medically explain it.

But I thanked God for it every single day.

I spent every day she laid in that hospital bed in the chair pulled at close to it as it would go. Somedays I talked to her, somedays I sang. Somedays I didn't say anything at all. But I was there, opening to closing visiting hours. My parents, her mom, my brothers and dozens of friends came to see her every day. I was there when she woke from acoma. I was there when she spoke her first words after being gone for two entire months.

"That shirt is awful, Nick" had never sounded so amazing.

Over the last year, she had completely recovered from every bump, bruise, ache and break her body had suffered. She did it with a smile. She was stronger than any of us were through the entire thing, and the day she got her leg casts off, fought with Joe and I for a solid three hours before we caved, and she walked.

She was left without a single scar, except for on the top of her left wrist that formed a small cross.

Ever since the day she came home from the hospital, I hadn't taken a single second with her for granted. We still argued, got annoyed with each other and yelled.

But we respected each other a lot more.

We argued a lot less, and agreed to disagree more. We got annoyed less, and loved the flaws more. We yelled less, and spent more time telling her I loved her.

We learned the hard way that there's never enough time to say it as much as you want to.

She's my best friend.

If she hadn't gone through everything she had, if she hadn't made me fight my demons and make a change...I never would have.

She's my miracle.

We don't talk about that week of September of last year anymore. We all think about it every day. Everytime we look each other in the eyes, we remember. With every smile and stupid fight, it's on our mind. 

We don't talk about it, but we all know that it completely changed our worlds, our lives, our relationships and our hearts.

We had gone to Pinkberry, and I got her Jesse McCartney's autograph. She was right by my side when my brothers and I recieved our platinum album. She was my date to every award show, party and premiere we were cordially invited to. Now, she was on the tour bus with me, going across the country and eventually the world, on the biggest tour we had ever done. We had dozens upon dozens of insane adventures and thousands of pictures for proof. We had our first kiss, and it was even in the rain. We were in love, and we never let anything hold us back.

I brushed off my flannel pajama pants and looked down at her annoyed brown eyes that had me convinced that I was the luckiest guy on the planet.

I smiled widely, and said my simple, routine morning line, just because I had another chance to.

"Good morning, Riley."

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**The End.**


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